Sons of Anarchy: Land of the Living
by betty-boo
Summary: Meet Charlotte Davis-Morrow, the adopted sister to Jackson Teller, and she has her own demons to deal with. Not your average 'Jax has a baby sister' story. Chibs/OFC Set during Season One Rated M
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Reaching down to her side, Charlotte picked up her ice-cold glass of Coke, took a sip and sighed.

_This is the life_, she thought.

She was sunbathing in her back garden on a gorgeous, clear and sunny Sunday in her hometown of Charming, California, wearing nothing but a swimsuit, sunglasses and a smug smile on her face. What made it even better was that the next day, she and her two best friends, Kasey and Lexi, would be taking a road-trip to Las Vegas for Kasey's 24th Birthday. It was all she had thought about for the past four months.

Charlotte took another sip of her drink, checked her watch for the time and frowned. Half-Sack was due to paint the outside of her house today and he should have been there two hours ago. It wasn't the fact that her house _needed_ painting that bothered her because it didn't really. It was just something that Clay had thought up to both annoy and test the Prospect. But the fact that he was over two hours late would not go down well with Clay when she told him.

She heard a bike roll up the street and Madison, her overweight, grey Chow bitch started to bark, indicating someone was coming up the driveway. Maddy barked because she was excited—anyone and everyone that came to Maddy's door was a new, fresh face to play with. As a loyal companion, she was excellent. As a guard dog, she was absolutely abysmal. She was too fat to run and thought that the word "Attack!" meant attack her bowl of food.

Seconds later, her doorbell rang and Charlotte answered it in her bikini.

Half-Sack looked her up and down in a not too subtle way.

"Where you been?" she asked.

"Sorry, Clay had me run an errand," he replied, scratching his head.

"Hmm."

Charlotte narrowed her eyes. She'd double check that with Clay sometime—she didn't like the idea that he could have been off running around doing whatever he wanted when he had other commitments.

"Come through."

She led him through her house to the back where paint and a ladder were waiting for him. He got stuck in it straight away and she resumed sunbathing.

Soon, she started to drift off into a light sleep. The only sounds coming from the street were her next door neighbour mowing his lawn, the occasional car and the odd noise that Half-Sack made. The quiet of the neighbourhood was suddenly disturbed by an engine of another Harley-Davidson.

"Who's that?" Half-Sack asked from up his ladder.

Charlotte shrugged, still sleepy, but then she suddenly realised who it was. Leaping from her sun lounger, she ran through the house in time to meet Chibs as he was walking through her front door.

"Hey, Charlie baby!" he greeted her.

She shushed him with a finger to her mouth.

"Prospect's here," she whispered.

"Still?" he asked, moving his shades to his forehead. Charlotte nodded and followed him to her back door, where Kip was up a ladder, trying to balance both a paintbrush and paint can in one hand.

"Hey what're you doin' here?" Kip asked, looking down.

Chibs raised an eyebrow.

"Keepin' my eye on you, you dozy shite. Ain't you finished with that, yet?"

"Clay had me doin' some other shit this morning."

Chibs looked to Charlotte for confirmation, but she just shrugged and they headed inside.

A short while later Kip moved his ladder to a new spot. It was hot as hell and he was sweating his ass off. Approaching the top of the ladder, he saw Chibs, who suddenly appeared at an upstairs window and shut the blinds. Kip loaded his brush up with paint, wondering what the hell he was doing up there. A few seconds later, he heard voices talking low through the slightly open window. He manoeuvred his body on the ladder so that he was able to see through the small slits in Charlotte's blinds.

He saw a completely naked Charlotte sitting on the edge of her bed. Chibs stood in front of her, hands running through her hair as he said something to her in a low voice. He took off his Cut and T-shirt as Charlotte started to undo his belt and jeans, pushing them down to the floor. She took his cock in her hand and started stroking him, slowly at first and then increasing her speed.

Kip was so shocked that he nearly fell off his ladder. He'd never suspected a thing between them and wondered if anyone else knew.

One day at the garage a few weeks back, Chibs had practically ripped him a new asshole for mentioning that Charlotte was "a nice girl." Chibs had given him a stern warning that 'fucking around' with her or anyone's Ol' Lady was a sure-fire way to kiss his Top Rocker goodbye and spend a night at St. Thomas' Hospital. And to think, Chibs had a thing with her the whole time!

He resumed watching to see how far they would go.

Charlotte's head was moving up and down in between his thighs and it was pretty obvious what she was doing. With one hand, Chibs held her head in place and with the other he reached across to her nightstand, reaching inside a decorative box and pulled out a condom. Whilst he was ripping it open, Charlotte moved further back on the bed, legs open and ready to accept her lover. He held onto her hips and he pushed into her causing a soft moan from her lips. As he started to increase his speed, moving in and out of her, he moved his hands to her breasts, kneading them as he thrust into her.

"Oh, baby!" Charlotte moaned, closing her eyes and wrapping her legs around his waist pulling him further towards her.

Chibs pulled out and grabbed her hips, turning her over, so she was on all fours. He slid in her from behind, grabbing her long hair and tugging her head back until she screamed in ecstasy. He leant forward, wrapping an arm round to grab her breast, his mouth nipping at her neck hard enough to leave her with a mark. When she went away, he wanted her to remember whom she belonged to.

Kip shook his head and pulled his vision away from the window. Resuming painting the house, he could still hear them talking dirty to each other through the open window. A few minutes later, he heard both of them reach orgasm and he decided that now was as good as time as any to move his ladder.

When Kip had finished painting, he ventured into the house warily. Chibs was in the kitchen—thankfully, fully dressed, peering in the fridge. Charlotte was nowhere to be seen.

"Finished?" Chibs asked, slamming the fridge door shut. Kip just nodded, afraid to say anything for fear it would land him in serious trouble.

"Charlie!" Chibs yelled, walking to the bottom of the stairs where Charlotte appeared a few seconds later, also fully dressed.

"Stop yelling!" she grumbled as she reached the bottom step.

She _hated_ it when he yelled. It made her feel uneasy. Chibs grabbed a fistful of her hair as he moved forward to kiss her. Charlotte smiled and wrapped her arms round his shoulders, kissing him again. He teased her by flicking his tongue across her bottom lip. She whimpered lightly until he finally relented and slid his tongue against hers, a free hand moving to her ass to squeeze tightly.

Kip shifted on his feet nervously, knowing that he had to get out of there and fast before he wound up blurting out something totally inappropriate that would lose him his place in the Sons of Anarchy for good and possibly a few teeth as well. Floorboards squeaked under his slight movement, which seemed to spring Chibs and Charlotte away from their actions. He saw Chibs hand her some money and his eyes widened. Was Charlotte a _hooker_?

"It's for your trip," Chibs explained to her as she started to protest.

Kip exhaled in relief that she wasn't a prostitute.

Charlotte protested again, but then he physically opened her palm and placed the money there.

"Take it," he ordered, "You got the Pre-Pay?"

He already knew the answer, but he liked to hear her confirm it.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"That's my girl," he smiled and he leant down to kiss her again.

Charlotte flitted her gaze to Half-Sack, whilst looking slightly nervous. Chibs turned away from her and opened the front door, pushing Half-Sack out onto the porch.

"Let's go, Prospect."

He turned back and winked at Charlotte before flicking his sunglasses back over his eyes.

Walking down Charlotte's front path, Chibs placed his arm around Kip's shoulder.

"I dunno what you _think_ you saw in there Prospect, but you best not narc to nobody or you can kiss your Top Rocker good-bye and your new nickname will be No-Sack. You get that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Kip swallowed thickly as he got on his bike.

Chibs placed a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Good boy."


	2. Skeeter Has Needs

**Author Note: **Thank you for those who reviewed the first chapter. I'm glad you guys are all excited about this and I hope you'll really enjoy the story from start to finish! I also have to thank my Beta, Meryn, for her work on this.

**Chapter One: Skeeter Has Needs**

"Is this really gonna work?" Juice asked, as they all dismounted their bikes, which were parked at the back of Charming Town Funeral Services.

"Skeeter's weak spots are gambling, cards and women—in that order. He'll do anything for a couple of thousand to blow on horses and hookers," Jax replied as he and Chibs lifted the shutter doors.

"Do they really burn bodies in here?" Half-Sack asked, eyes wandering to the furnace that took up most of the back wall.

"We do," Chibs replied in his ear, pushing him down the steps.

They had indeed used Skeeter in the past to 'dispose' of bodies quickly and quietly, but it proved more cost effective for them to ride out of town with a bottle of gas and a lighter.

"Hey Skeet," Jax greeted.

"Hi guys, I haven't seen you in a while. What can I do for you?"

Skeeter turned and looked up from his clipboard.

"Need a couple of bodies. Fresh."

"Ah, let me see here."

Skeeter checked his papers.

"I'm not due for any more 'til Friday. Weekend rush."

He was the only one that laughed at his lame joke.

"Too late," Chibs stated as he pulled Prospect away from the furnace, a glove-clad finger thrust in the younger man's face as a warning to not fuck around, "We need 'em tonight."

"I do have one here, but it's for cremation tomorrow."

"White?" Jax asked, hopefully.

"Yeah."

"We'll take it. Need a Mexican, too."

"Buried one just this morning."

"Great," Jax smiled and handed over a small envelope of money, "Pocket money for your card games."

"Oh, Jax, I don't gamble no more."

"What?" Jax asked with a raised eyebrow. This was news to him.

"Three months straight, now." Skeeter smiled proudly, handing the brown envelope with money back to Jax, "My group therapist says I need to resist all temptations."

Jax pondered on that statement. Group Therapist? Sounded more like a bible-bashing club. But then again, this was America. It was more unusual _not_ to have a therapist then it was to have one.

"Well, shit, what do you want?"

Skeeter looked down at his shoes and blushed.

"I've been trying to ask her out on a date for ages, but I just can't."

"Who?" Juice asked, feeling sorry for whoever the creepy funeral director had his sights set on.

Skeeter ignored his question and kept talking.

"I saw her a few weeks back at the store. I went to try and talk to her, but she just thinks I'm an idiot."

"Who? Skeet just tell us—you know we're connected. We can make it happen," Jax smirked.

"Charlotte," Skeeter sighed, looking down at his shoes again.

Chibs flinched slightly, not believing what he just heard and was glad that Jax didn't pick up on it. As far as he was concerned, despite the fact that they were keeping it quiet, Charlotte was his. He hated admitting it even to himself, but on the odd occasion she would hang out at the Clubhouse on Friday nights and he saw her talking to the younger biker enthusiasts, he would feel fiercely over-protective of her. Seeing her with people her own age, reminded him that he was 18 years her senior. It was on those type of nights that he tried to coax her into making them public—that he seriously considered pulling Clay aside and telling him. Somehow, she always convinced him otherwise.

Half-Sack sniggered behind him and Chibs slapped him on the arm, earning another warning finger in his face in as many minutes. Juice started to laugh and covered it up with an unconvincing coughing fit.

"Dude, that's my _sister_," Jax spat out, playing up his role as the stereotypical older, protective brother and therefore _nobody _was good enough for her. Skeeter was nice enough. He was just _weird._

"I know—but if you could just arrange one date—I'll be good to her. I swear, Jax—"

"Can't. She's out-of-town. Try something else," Jax snarled. He couldn't imagine Skeeter and Charlotte holding hands—let alone _other_ things. Skeeter's face fell for a second before somebody else popped into his mind.

"Emily Duncan."

The name didn't ring any bells, so Jax turned to Chibs for confirmation.

"She's one of our Friday night hotties. She _loves_ a good punch up the knickers," Chibs explained, before turning his head away slightly and pulling a disgusted face.

Charlotte and Emily?

It appeared that Skeeter had crawled inside Chibs' mind and picked his two favourite women. He and Emily had been hitting it off every few Friday nights for nearly a year now and sometimes mid-week too. She'd gone away to some place that he couldn't remember to visit a sick relative and between the time that she had left and came back, he'd started whatever it was he had with Charlotte. Since Emily had returned, he hadn't gone past making out and heavy petting sessions with her. It didn't mean anything to him. It was just his own way of getting back at Charlotte every now and then for not going public.

He had fantasised about a threesome with the brunette and the blonde and after some tequila and coaxing, he knew for a fact that Emily wouldn't say "No" to that. But Charlotte—on the other hand—he knew for a fact would cut off his balls with a plastic knife for even suggesting it. He didn't know why—and didn't _want_ to know why—but Charlotte had an instant dislike for Emily since she first showed up at the Clubhouse and the feeling had only intensified since she found out that Emily and Chibs had slept together. She was insanely jealous of Emily and didn't bother to hide it very well.

"You want Emily? We'll get her for you Skeeter," Jax nodded.

"Great."

Skeeter handed Jax a piece of paper.

"This is the plot number for the dead Mexican."

"We're—We're actually going to dig a grave up?" Half-Sack asked, eyes darting back and forth between Chibs and Jax.

"Who said anything about 'we'?" Jax smirked and Chibs and Juice chuckled.

Juice's hacking skills proved useful yet again as he quickly hot-wired Darby's SUV. Pulling into the garage at Teller-Morrow, he and Chibs stepped out and shut the garage door until they would need it later that night. As they were closing the door, a blonde lady pulled into the forecourt, roof completely down on her convertible. Chibs apparently knew the blonde and gave her a small wave, as well as flashing her a smile.

"Who's that?" Juice asked.

"That, my friend, is a hundred and thirty pounds of cock-riding giggedy."

It took a few seconds for Juice to realise what he meant.

"Oh, you hit that?"

Juice thumbed to the woman and Chibs nodded, smiling at the memory as they entered into the Clubhouse through the back door. Music was playing from the jukebox and Bobby, strangely, was playing an entirely different song on his guitar. His eyes were closed, his body swaying to the rhythm of his own drum, surrounded by a cloud of dense smoke. It appeared that Bobby forwent his own "No bud before 9am" rule and was away with the fairies.

* * *

Vegas had been one of those vacations where she needed another vacation to get over it. The past few days had been a haze of shots, slots and not a lot of sleeping. She'd driven for five out of the nine odd hours it took the three girls to get from Las Vegas back to Charming and was completely beat. All she wanted to do was collect Madison from Gemma and Clay's house and head home to sleep for a month.

Pulling up slowly into the Teller-Morrow parking lot and parking right up against the office cabin, she looked around to see who was and wasn't there. The line of bikes was there as always and she could see a few people scattered around the yard including that Crow-Eater slut, Emily Duncan. Charlotte snarled to herself, knowing full well what the Crow-Eater was there for—or rather _who. _She'd barely been gone for seven days and apparently, Chibs couldn't even go seven days without getting his dick wet. Walking over to the Clubhouse, she tried the door but it had been locked for some reason.

Juice and Chibs were halfway through their beers, contemplating what design to draw on Bobby's face (who was now sleeping soundly with his head atop the pool table) with a Sharpie marker, when they heard a knock at the front door. Without even looking up at the CCTV camera screen, Chibs dismounted his stool, confident in knowing who it was at the door.

"Emily, baby!" He greeted and opened the door, "Oh, shit," he cursed quietly.

It wasn't Emily. It was Charlotte, looking pissed as hell. Juice, laughing in the background, only added fuel to her fire. She huffed and put her hands on her hips, giving Chibs daggers with her eyes.

"Sorry baby, I thought you were—"

"Emily, yeah I got that," She snarled and pushed past him, walking further into the Clubhouse to see Bobby face down on the pool table, "Where the hell is everyone?"

By 'everyone,' she specifically meant Jax.

She had a bone to pick with him as to what exactly he had done at the Hairy Dog that had cost her, her job at the Nail Salon. She'd received a call whilst on her trip in Vegas from Juliet Michaels, her boss and owner of the Salon. She couldn't get many specific details but she gathered that Jax had beaten up the wrong guy at the Dog. Juliet's brother, Glenn, owned the bar and the two had obviously exchanged words.

Juliet asked Charlotte not to return to work because she didn't want the Salon to be 'associated' with that type of 'riff raff' who gave off 'negative' images about her Salon. That was all complete bollocks, as fights at the Dog were as common as flies on shit and there were girls who worked at the Salon who hung around the Nords and caused all types of drama. Some of the girls even dealt Crank from out of the Salon when they thought they could get away from it.

"Jax is in his room. Everybody else is on a run," Chibs shrugged, leaning against the bar.

"Go get him for me," Charlotte ordered.

"What?" Chibs snorted in disbelief, nearly choking on his beer.

Who the hell did she think she was giving him orders in his own Clubhouse? She may have had pull over some people, being Clay's daughter, but not him. Charlotte's answer was interrupted by a short knock on the door followed by Emily Duncan entering. She hugged Chibs in greeting and he hugged her back whilst making a comment on how nice she looked, causing Charlotte to roll her eyes.

"Jax wants to see you," Chibs stated.

"Okay, where is he?"

"He's in his room, darling—the one right at the end."

He made a gesture for her to go through to the back where the dorm rooms were.

Emily smiled tightly at Charlotte as she walked past. The hatred between the two of them was mutual. The only reason Emily didn't make a scene was because whether she liked it or not, ultimately, Charlotte was the daughter of the President of the charter she hung around with. Kicking off would sever all ties between her and the club—and that she did not want any time soon.

Charlotte sneered at her retreating back.

"Hey Charlie, nice trip?" Juice finally looked up from his laptop screen and realised she was there.

"Great, thanks," She smiled.

She had time for Juice. They were of a similar age and shared an interest in the same music. Right now, however, she just couldn't be bothered to talk to anyone—except Jax. And now with Emily keeping him 'company' in the back, she'd have to wait a little bit longer for him.

She poked Chibs in the chest on her way out.

"I'll be waiting in the cabin. Get Jax to come see me A-S-A-fucking-P."

Chibs rolled his eyes behind his dark shades and downed the remainder of his beer. She was going to hold this grudge against him for some time to come. Calling her Emily was worse than a smack in the face in her eyes.

Emily reappeared twenty minutes later smoothing down her hair, before she slipped away quietly from the Clubhouse. Jax followed a few minutes later.

"Charlie's looking for you, Jacky Boy," Chibs told him, "And she's pissed as _hell, _brother."

On cue, the door to the Clubhouse opened and Charlotte appeared, a face of thunder still. Twenty minutes sitting alone in the office cabin reading a magazine had not calmed her down.

"See?"

Chibs raised an eyebrow and backed up further into the corner, continuing his game of pool with Bobby's head still on the table.

"Charlotte! I didn't know you were back already."

Jax wrapped her up in a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Stop it! I'm mad at you!"

Her voice was muffled in his cut.

"Who the hell did you beat up at the Dog that cost me my job?"

Jax ran a hand through his wet hair.

"Shit, you got fired for that?"

He knew Glen was an asshole, but not that big of an asshole that he would tell Juliet to fire Charlotte. The Sons had suspected for a while that Glen was reaping some profit from letting the Nords deal out of the Dog and this now confirmed it.

Jax leaned back against the bar and sighed.

"The guy sold crank to Wendy. She shot up and they had to cut Abel out. He's in a toaster at the Hospital."

"What?!" Charlotte yelled at him. There was too much in that sentence for Charlotte to comprehend. Not only had Wendy gone back to doing Crank, but she was doing it while pregnant and now Abel was in hospital!

"Why the hell didn't you call me? Why didn't _anybody_ call me?"

"You'd been planning that trip for months. I knew you'd just come straight back home if we told you."

"Don't you think that decision was up to me?" her voice softened, "Is he going to be all right?"

"I dunno," Jax answered truthfully and shrugged.

Jax held her as she suddenly burst into tears. She was overly tired and coupled with the news of her premature nephew. It had sent her over the edge.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, chin resting on top of her head.

And he truly was. When Wendy first told him she was pregnant, his initial thought was to tell her to get an abortion. He had told Charlotte and she was over the moon, despite also having a volatile relationship with Wendy, too.

Charlotte had been the one to introduce Wendy to Jax and within a year they had got married. The two women met in a jewellery-making course at Lodi Community College. They were partnered up in an assignment and formed a strong friendship from there. The two, along with Lexi and Kasey, used to tear up the town on Saturday nights and go everywhere as a foursome. They were deemed inseparable until Wendy started doing Crank, scoring at the college campus.

Wendy stole money from Charlotte and thus she had given the blonde-haired woman an ultimatum—friendship or drugs. It was obvious which road Wendy had taken and since then, the two barely said hello to each other in the street. Even after hearing the news that Wendy was pregnant, Charlotte's pride got in the way and she still wouldn't pick up the phone to talk to the person who had once been her best friend. Now, after hearing that Wendy had missed the majority of her Doctor's appointments, Charlotte felt responsible for poor little Abel.

When Charlotte ceased crying, she and Jax left to go see Abel at St. Thomas' Hospital where Gemma was watching over him. Charlotte's reaction had been to burst into tears again after seeing the tiny body in the small incubation chamber. He looked like a little alien life form with his large abdomen and skinny limbs sticking out of it.

* * *

Bobby jerked awake as the Clubhouse phone rang.

"What did I miss?" Bobby asked, wiping his hands over his face in an attempt to regain sobriety.

"Nothing."

Chibs shook his head.


	3. Return to Sender

**Chapter Two: Return to Sender**

Charlotte always had a good time at 'Taste of Charming'; the fundraiser Gemma did every year to raise money for Charming High School. She didn't know why everybody else moaned like hell—free food, free drink and free entertainment all day. Was there any other way to spend a Saturday?

"Well, shit, if it ain't mini-Martha Stewart," Jax smirked, as Charlotte was building a small pyramid out of pop cans.

"Oh, very funny," she retorted, throwing a can of Coca Cola® at his chest. But he was quick and caught it.

"Hope you're going to pay for that." Gemma said, walking up to her children.

"Hey, Mom." Jax deflected Gemma's statement by kissing her cheek.

"Is that who I think it is?" Gemma asked, looking at Kyle, the rat, whose selfish actions cost Opie five years in jail.

"Yeah. Ope's cool with it so..." Jax trailed off and shrugged his shoulders, opening his coke can, "Who's that guy grillin' over there?"

He motioned his head towards the Charming Police Department stand, directly opposite them.

"That's your ATF agent."

"You're shittin' me."

"No, why?"

Gemma didn't like the look on her son's face.

"When I was at the hospital earlier with Abel, he stood outside the window staring at me—at us."

Her interest piqued, Charlotte raised her head from her can pyramid and looked up. A tall, light-haired man dressed in a blue shirt gave a slight nod of his head to Jax, his eyes hid behind dark sunglasses. He remained completely motionless and his stoic behaviour sent a chill up Charlotte's spine.

"Excuse me."

The male voice startled her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump."

It was the ATF agent who had been at the grill earlier.

"It's okay," Charlotte assured, breathing deep and getting her heart rate back to normal.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you? You look so familiar."

"Umm, no, I don't think so. Sorry."

If he was watching the Sons, then no doubt he would've seen her around the garage a few times. It was an odd question for him to ask her.

"Charlotte, right?"

Charlotte tensed when he said her name.

"I thought so," he smiled, "Alrighty then."

He picked up a soda can and handed Charlotte some money.

"Thanks," he smiled again, holding up the can and walked away.

Charlotte blinked at what just happened. His method of questioning was a strange one at that. He asked her if he knew her, but already knew her name. If his intention was to put her on edge, he sure did that.

_Maybe he's watching my house too,_ she thought. She had nothing to hide but one could never be too careful.

Checking that Madison was still under the table where she left her, Charlotte saw her eating up some pasta that somebody had dropped on the ground.

"Maddy!" she hissed, squatting down on all fours and going under the table. The grey Chow looked at her with big eyes.

"Stop it!"

The last time Madison ate pasta, she threw up on the kitchen floor.

"Hey, while you're down there..."

"That's funny, Tig," Charlotte responded as she stood up, seeing Tig and Bobby in his full Elvis attire.

"I thought so, too," he smirked, taking a can of soda from her ever dwindling pyramid.

"Gemma's pissed at you," she said to Bobby, "And you have to _pay_ for that, Tig."

"Why? I do my part for the community already," he mumbled as he walked away.

"Don't we all?" Bobby agreed, fixing his hair and preparing for the beat-down he was going to get from Gemma for being nearly two hours late.

* * *

Charlotte dropped a shaky April off at St. Thomas' Hospital, being as it was on her way home anyway. Tyler had taken the family car home after April fed him the bullshit excuse that she was going to stay and help clear up. Charlotte had offered to stay with her until Kyle was dropped off. She felt sorry for April after seeing Kyle with his bimbo, blonde girlfriend and now _she_ was the one who had to pick up the pieces from whatever SAMCRO had done to him. She had seen Kyle earlier, sporting a busted lip and a swollen eye. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Opie had done that to him, but apparently that was just for starters and the rest of the Sons were the main course and dessert.

"I'll be fine, you go home," April politely refused.

"You shouldn't—"

"Charlotte," April snapped, "Please."

Charlotte left her on the bench that overlooked the main road and the main entrance of the hospital. The bench was one that she herself had sat on for many collective hours after a member of the Sons had got hurt. She didn't envy April at all.

* * *

Pulling up in her driveway, Charlotte noticed two things; the new car parked halfway down her street and how full her mailbox was. She noticed the car because she had never seen it before and she knew who everyone was on her street. They were mostly retired or near-retiring aged couples—a few other people living alone like her. The street was one of the oldest in Charming, (which was probably why it was called Old Street) and as such, housed some of the oldest residents who had lived there their whole lives.

The car she noticed was a cream-coloured, old Pontiac. It was parked outside the house of Billy and Wendy Porter. Wendy had MS and Billy didn't drive, so her first instinct was that it was the ATF agent from the fundraiser watching her. Stepping out of her car and trying not to make it too obvious that she was staring at the Pontiac, she could see that the driver was completely bald—so that ruled the agent out entirely. His stature was also larger than the thin agent's was. Reaching her mailbox, she decided it must be a relative or a friend waiting for someone.

Her mailbox was practically bursting with unread mail. She hadn't bothered to check it since she returned from Vegas—so much for Gemma 'popping round' to keep an 'eye' on the place while she was away.

Stepping inside, Madison headed straight to her food bowl and began chowing down, whilst she flicked through her mail. Amongst the many bills, there was a small brown envelope with a postage stamp mark from Memphis, Tennessee. She stared at the neat writing on the front for ages, knowing who it was from already.

The first letter from her mother had arrived one day in her mailbox a few weeks back in the same small brown envelope with the same neat writing and same postage stamp mark from Memphis. The shock of it had caused Charlotte to throw up in her sink. She had scanned through the letter, reading the odd line about how sorry her mother was about leaving—how she wished Charlotte would forgive her and how she felt bad about her father's death. In the end, the letter had been set alight with a match and thrown in the kitchen sink to burn.

Her mother obviously hadn't taken the hint after she didn't reply to the first letter and had sent a second. Debating with herself for a few minutes, she decided she didn't want to read the letter at all this time and set it alight like the previous letter. Hopefully, her mother would think she had the wrong address after two letters went unanswered.

She hadn't needed her mother for the past twenty-one years and she certainly didn't need her now.


	4. Write Off

**A/N: Thank you for yor reviews! I'm glad you are all enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it!**

**Chapter Three: Write Off**

Since loosing her job at the Nail Salon, Charlotte's only source of income were the odd jewellery pieces she did for people and the odd day she would work at the garage—and that wasn't exactly bringing home the bacon. So, she began to hunt for another job.

One Tuesday morning she had an interview at 'Heather's Boo-Tique', the most up-scale ladies clothing shop in the whole of Charming. Her interview was with a well-dressed, sophisticated, older woman who introduced herself as Heather, the owner and manager of the store. The interview was going well. Heather seemed pleasantly interested in the fact that Charlotte made her own jewellery, until she dropped a bombshell.

"Ah, I think you know my nephew," Heather said, looking at Charlotte over her glasses with a small smile.

"Oh, really?"

"David—David Hale."

"Deputy David Hale?" Charlotte squeaked.

"Yes, that's him."

Well, as far as Charlotte was concerned, her chance at getting the job was well and truly over. There was no doubt that Heather would mention her name to him and he would mention the Sons and that would be it. She wouldn't be holding her breath on that one.

Leaving the boutique, she decided to do a quick detour further into town and grab a takeaway coffee and a huge slice of chocolate cake to make herself feel better from Nikki's Corner Cafe. The light turned green and as she turned her car to the left, she heard an almighty 'pop' sound and she lost control of the car for a few seconds. She spotted the motorcycle and the man and woman packing double on it, and managed to pull her wheel hard enough to the right to avoid hitting them.

Looking out her window to see what damage had been done to her car, she quickly ducked down after seeing a man with an AK-51 gun pointed in her direction. The bullets ripped along the bodywork of her car and she screamed, placing her head in between her knees like they tell you to do in case of an airplane emergency.

The man driving the bike lunged forward in a bid to escape the gunfire, but the bullets hit both him and the woman on the back. The firing stopped and after hearing car wheels burning out and disappearing; it was only then, did she step out of the car to find that the man and woman that had been on the motorcycle were both sprawled on the road, blood pooling out from under them.

"Holy shit!" she sobbed.

She'd never seen so much blood and just as she thought she was going to vomit over them, she saw Trammel standing by his patrol car. She rushed over as fast as possible in her black heels to find him handcuffed to the door.

"What the hell happened here?" she asked in disbelief and shock.

"Who the hell were those guys?!" he practically shouted at a pale Charlotte.

Trammel may have been one crooked son of a bitch, but he was still clever. All AK's in this town were controlled, imported and sold by SAMCRO. Those guys that held the van up were not Sons of Anarchy. He prayed that Clay still kept the Clubhouse devoid of guns because if SAMCRO got caught, he'd get caught too, which meant one hell of an ass raping in prison.

"There's a key on my belt for the cuffs."

Trammel ignored her silent response and questions. She grabbed the key to unlock his handcuffs.

"What did they want?" she asked.

She hadn't recognised the men with the AK's, but they definitely weren't Niners.

"We were transporting a prisoner. They busted him out."

Trammel radioed Charming PD for backup and an ambulance to the crime scene.

"Shit, I gotta call Clay," Charlotte cursed.

SAMCRO sold illegal weapons to a bunch of guys who bust out a prisoner, killing an officer and two innocents in the process. ATF would eat that shit up like Tig eats pussy. She continually rang the garage number and the Clubhouse. Nobody was answering their mobiles, so she guessed they were in a 'meeting'.

An ATF agent walked by her and bent down to pick up a mobile phone.

"Is this yours Ma'am?" the dark-skinned man asked.

"No," she answered, holding up her own mobile as proof.

The agent flipped open the phone and then walked back to the car where a slim lady with brunette hair was talking to Trammel, hands on her hips. She made a call on her own phone, snapping it shut quickly and ordering the man to get back into the car. Trammel walked over to Charlotte. The look on his face already telling her it was bad news.

"The last phone call received on that cell is from Teller-Morrow garage. ATF are getting a warrant right now."

"Shit."

Charlotte slapped a hand to her forehead.

"We have to call Clay."

Trammel had more luck and managed to get a hold of Bobby at the garage, informing him that ATF were getting a search warrant for it. Bobby hung up too soon and Trammel didn't have the chance to tell him that Charlotte was heading to the Police station.

* * *

Charlotte entered the station behind the officer that had driven her in the squad car. It was eerily quiet until she heard a loud female voice.

_That's Gemma!_ She thought. What was she doing there?

"And it's not my pussy!" Gemma spat out, before being half-dragged, half-led to the back where the cells were.

"What the hell is _she_ doing here?" Clay asked Hale, as Charlotte walked past and was led to another interview room.

"Family reunion," Hale quipped, "Get back inside."

* * *

The knock on her front door later in the evening made her jump awake. She had drifted off to sleep on the sofa and groaned as she got up to answer the door. She barely got the door open before Chibs stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Holy shit," he cursed, moving his glasses to his forehead and cupping her cheeks, checking to make sure she was okay like Clay said she was. Her car had been dusted by forensics than towed back to the garage. It was a total write-off and the amount of bullet holes in the side of the car scared the shit out of him. He'd wanted to leave the garage earlier, but he hadn't got the chance.

"I'm okay," she answered his unspoken question and he leant down to kiss her, before wrapping his arms round her and pulling her close to him.

She rested her head in the crook of his neck, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the familiar leather-cum-cigarette scent that made her feel secure. He was wearing his thin, black scarf to keep the edge of the chill away and she wrapped it around her hand, offering more comfort. He kissed the top of her head and ran his hands up and down her back.

She didn't even realise she was crying until she heard him say in a soft voice, "You're okay Charlie, baby."

His hands, previously making soothing circles on her back, had now found their way under her T-shirt and were gliding over her skin. She pulled back slightly to wipe at her eyes and he gave her a small smile before leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. His tongue ran along her bottom lip, coaxing Charlotte to open her mouth for his exploring tongue. The harder he kissed her, the more she found herself walking backwards until she was up against the wall. He picked her up by her ass and her legs instinctively wound around his waist. As he kissed a trail from her mouth to her neck, he suddenly realised that she wasn't responding the way he had hoped. In fact, she wasn't responding at all.

"What's wrong?"

"Can we just...not do this right now?" she asked, gently squeezing her hands on his shoulders.

He dropped her quickly; she had to steady herself on her legs to keep from falling over.

"Why are you doin' this?" he asked, running both hands through his hair and leaving them atop his head.

"Doing what?"

She didn't mean to snap but her nerves were on edge.

"You don't want anyone to know about this," he gestured wildly between the two of them, "And now _you _don't want anything to do with this."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're still not over that Emily stint are you?"

Charlotte opened her mouth to speak then quickly shut it again. In all honesty, the Emily situation had always been at the back of her mind for the whole time he had been away. It was bad timing that a short while after Emily showed up at the Clubhouse, Chibs had to go up North for a few days with Michael McKievey. The night before he was due to leave, he went round to her house to clear the air. He knew he had to do it before he went away; otherwise, she'd be ten times as pissed when he returned.

He had let her rant and rave about how much of a slut Emily was—how disgusting and loose she was. When she was finished, he had picked her up by the waist, threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and thrown her on her bed. He silenced her protest by placing his mouth over hers, kissing her softly and running his hands tenderly over her inner thighs. When she had quieted down, he had pushed the hem of her dress up to her waist and started to eat her out. He had thought she'd forgot and forgave him, but obviously not.

"No!" she retorted. "I don't care about that fucking tramp," she lied.

"Then what the fuck's your problem?" he snapped.

He was getting tired of sneaking around—tired of lying about where he was going—tired of lying about what he had done the previous night—tired of lying to the faces of his brothers. It was easier for Charlotte to keep it quiet. She didn't hang around them all day—didn't have to look Clay and Jax in the eye at every meeting around the Redwood table. He was getting sick of it and Charlotte knew that.

"I've just got some shit on my mind, that's all."

"We've _all_ got shit on our minds right now, Charlie."

They all had ATF breathing down their necks and as if that wasn't enough to worry about, the heat with the both the Mayans and the Nords was seemingly getting hotter by the day. Chibs sometimes wondered just how much she knew about what went on _inside_ the club. He knew Jax and Clay told her tid-bits, going by the 'Need to Know' rule. But on the days she hung around the garage, she undoubtedly heard other bits and bobs and pieced it together.

"You want me to go?" he asked when she responded only with silence, but it was more like a challenge.

It was like he was daring her to tell him to get out—see whether he had the balls to actually go or not. Charlotte rubbed a hand over her forehead. Did she have a headache from this or what had happened earlier? It was probably both because her head was throbbing like mad.

"You know when I go, I won't come back," he added.

She jolted her head up to look at him. Chibs wasn't kidding. Charlotte knew that and he knew that she knew. On more than one occasion, he had threatened that, if she didn't tell people about them then she could forget about him being exclusive to her. That wound her up more than anything and she would start to tease him—start to rub her hand on his dick through the denim of his jeans—take his hands and place them under her shirt on her bare breasts. His brain would go to mush and she'd show him a number of reasons why he only needed her.

"Right now, yes, I think you should go."

Her own voice sounded foreign. She guessed at that moment that her head was ruling her heart. They held each other's stare for a few seconds before Chibs left, wordlessly, slamming the door shut so hard, it made Charlotte jump and Madison started barking at the door.

"Shit," she murmured into her hand, sliding to the floor as tears slid down her cheeks.

She hadn't just pushed her lover away—she'd pushed a member of her family away and she couldn't decide which hurt worst.

Charlotte heard the sound of his bike kicking to life and she peered through a gap in the blinds in her living room, watching just his taillights going down the street. She also noticed a familiar sight—that cream coloured Pontiac and it's bald headed driver were still parked in the street. She watched him for a few minutes. He just sat there, reading a paper and drinking from a polystyrene cup. A car's headlights shone on the car as it drove down the street, and for a brief moment she could see that he was wearing a blue work shirt. It completely unnerved her, and as she went to bed later that evening she considered calling Jax, but the man in the car wasn't doing anything to hurt her. She was probably overreacting.

Yeah, overreacting.

It didn't stop her from double checking her 'emergency' gun that Gemma had given her was still in it's place in her night stand. There was a panel at the back that had broke off when she had moved her furniture around. Now, the back panel was loose enough for her to slide up and the gun sat nicely on a drawer lip.


	5. Spilt Blood

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I decided to not keep you in suspense any longer because you're all saying how much you want me to update!**

**Chapter Four: Spilt Blood**

Bobby wasn't required to run through the minutes from the last meeting. They all knew what they were there for—to discuss raising enough money for the IRA in four days.

"Bobby, what're the funds looking like for the Irish?"

"Every spare cent is in the rebuild right now."

Bobby shrugged, leaning forward on his knees.

"We still need a hundred and fifty kay to be straight."

"How the hell we gonna raise that much in two fuckin' days?" Tig asked as the whole table sucked in their breath.

Listening to Clay's idea about getting a loan from Luanne, Jax had a thought. He took a long inhale and exhale on his cigarette. Tapping it in the ashtray, he began to speak.

"I think I know where else we can get a chunk of money—or rather who else."

All eyes turned to the blonde-haired biker.

"Charlotte—I know she still has insurance money from when her old man died."

"We can't take her Dad's money from her."

Bobby shook his head and Chibs agreed as he reached across the table to steal Jax's ashtray. As sweet as it would be to get a chunk of money handed to them on a plate, they'd all had a lot of respect for Paul Davis and to take it would feel like they were somehow betraying or disrespecting him.

"Look, we might not even need it, but it's a back up plan in case Luanne can't deliver."

He met everyone's staring, pondering eyes, landing on Clay's who were looking back at his.

"All in favour of asking Luanne and Charlotte?" Clay asked, raising his own hand.

Everybody followed suit.

"You going to talk to her?" Clay asked Jax.

There was no doubt in his mind that Charlotte wouldn't say "No" to the club; however, eleven years after Paul Davis' death, it still struck a nerve with her. She'd still get upset and withdrawn at the mention of his name. Whilst this was entirely understandable, Clay didn't really feel like dealing with emotional women right now.

"Sure."

Clay closed the meeting with a knock of his hammer.

* * *

"Hello?" Charlotte drawled out.

"Hey. Where the heck are you?"

She sounded stoned and he could hear water sloshing about in the background.

"Having a bath," she replied, grabbing some bubbles and putting it on her nose.

"Gross."

Jackson physically shook his head as a mental image of Charlotte tried to appear in his mind. They had completely different parents, but for those two short years he had lived in the same house with her, they really had bonded as brother and sister. Jax speaking to his sister whilst she was naked in the bath was not appealing.

"This not having a job thing is great, y'know?"

"Still pissed at me for that, huh?" he smirked, flicking his cigarette to the ground.

"Hell yes."

Maybe this wasn't a good time to ask her for money, but then again, time was something he didn't have right now.

"Listen, I need to talk to you. Need a favour. For the club."

"Okay," she paused, waiting for him to speak, "What is it?"

"I'll come over."

He hung up, not even saying goodbye—a horrible habit he'd never grown out of.

* * *

Charlotte grabbed her necessary documents and headed down to CTB—Charming Town Bank. Mr. Evan Everett was the owner/manager—a middle aged, balding, slim man who'd recently returned after a bitter divorce with his wife after getting caught with his hand in a Crow Eater's pants. Evan was on Clay's payroll and had been for fifteen odd years. He'd helped the club on several occasions with cleaning dirty money and sometimes worked with their lawyer, Mr. Rosen, on property deeds.

He also sweated like a pig and Charlotte had forgotten that until she stepped into this office and nearly recoiled at the stench of BO. As he extended his hand to greet her, she could see his sweat patches under his arms through his navy blue suit.

After formalities, Charlotte told him she wanted to withdraw all money from her savings account. When her father's life insurance policy had gone through to her when she was thirteen, Gemma had insisted she put all the money into a savings account. It wasn't a high interest one, but more of a safety net to fall back on. It had remained untouched until two years ago, when she splurged most of the money on a brand new car.

Jackson hadn't told her what the money was for and she didn't want to know. Originally, he wanted the whole forty thousand dollars that she had got from the policy. She looked at him gob-smacked and then laughed. She had about eight thousand dollars at the most. The rest had gone on her car and a brand new range fridge freezer.

"Every bit counts," Jax had said, "You know I wouldn't be asking this of you unless we needed it."

After going through the paperwork, Evan led her to the vault where he opened up a metal cupboard and started putting wads of hundred dollar bills on the table. Charlotte was practically drooling as he and his assistant—a stuck-up bitch with the nametag of "Rosie M"—counted out eight thousand US dollars and handed her the bag. This was the most money that she had ever physically seen in her life.

She placed the bag on the passenger seat in her car and made Madison sit on top of it, scared it would grow legs and run off.

* * *

Jax took his vibrating phone out of his pocket and flipped it open after seeing the caller was "CHARLOTTE".

"Hey, did you get it?" he asked.

"Yep, all of it," she replied, stopping at a red light.

"A'ight, cool. You swinging by?"

Clay looked over to Jax with a questioning look and a raised eyebrow. Jax shook his head yes in return.

* * *

"Hey, yo, money truck just pulled in," Tig announced, as he spotted Charlotte's car pulling into the garage.

He and Jax went to the car to meet her. Tig opened the zip on the bag after unceremoniously moving Madison out the way and stuck his nose inside, inhaling deeply.

"Shit, that smells sweeter than any pussy I've ever had," he remarked.

"What the fuck, man?" Jax asked, shaking his head.

"What? I'm just making an observation."

He walked away towards the Clubhouse with the bag.

"Hey, can you stick around for a bit? Mom's doing the final touches to Abel's bedroom this afternoon and we're swamped here today," Jax asked.

"Yeah, Gemma told me about Abel's room. You really think an ATF agent could do that?"

"He's fucked up in the head, Charlie. But he's just plain fucked if I see him again."

Just then, they heard Chibs yell in the background, "Punch him, you muppet!"

Charlotte looked behind her to see an impromptu boxing match between Kip and Lowell.

"Oh yeah, you look real busy Jax."

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Shut up. You know how it is."

Charlotte laughed at his lame comeback and headed to the office cabin.

Jax wasn't kidding when he said they were swamped at the garage. With visiting the hospital so often, Gemma had fallen behind on time sheets and filing. Charlotte spent her day catching up on that, seeing to customers and watching Chibs and Half-Sack through the window. Under orders from Clay, Chibs and Half-Sack spent their whole day in the ring. Well, Half Sack did. Chibs spent his day drinking beer and smoking whilst yelling insults at the young Prospect.

Later that afternoon, Clay had poked his head into the cabin and asked if she was heading to the fight later that night.

"Yeah, I was planning on it," she replied.

"Could you, uhh," he looked around to see if anyone was around, "Pick Cherry up?"

"You don't trust her?"

"I don't know. That's why you're picking her up."

"And picking her brains?" Charlotte finished.

Clay beamed at her.

"Okay," she nodded.

By the time Charlotte had caught up with everything in the office, it was getting dark and the guys were locking up to get to the fight. Tig and Juice were still in the garage working on Tig's bike under the lights, but everybody else had seemed to head back into the Clubhouse. Walking across the forecourt to her car, she saw Jax sitting on the roof, cigarette in his mouth and beer bottle in his hand.

"Hey stranger," she greeted, as she got to the top of the metal ladder on the roof.

"Jesus. You scared me."

He closed his father's journal in his hand and she took a seat beside him.

"Wow. You can see for miles up here," she noted, looking out over the rooftops of the surrounding businesses and houses, "What are you reading?"

"Oh, it's...I found some of my Dad's journals in storage."

"Any good?"

Jax shrugged.

"Mainly shit about 'Nam and what happened when the war ended."

Charlotte gave a small smile, picturing what very little she remembered of John Teller. She and her dad had only been in the states for just over a year when John died, and with Charlotte only being nine at the time, the only thing that truly stuck in her mind was that he loved to BBQ and he always had this magnetic aura about him. John Teller seemed to draw people to him—good or bad.

"Jax I need to tell you something," she blurted quickly, thinking of the letters that her mother sent her.

"Sure, anything," Jax answered, all ears.

Charlotte paused, taking a deep breath.

"Jax!" Chibs yelled up at him from the Clubhouse.

God, that man had some lungs on him.

"We're at the table!"

"A'ight!" Jax yelled back, "Hey, we'll talk later--after the fight."

Jax kissed her forehead and led the way down the steps.

* * *

"Thanks for the lift. I appreciate it," Cherry said as she put her seatbelt on.

She peered in the back where Madison was lying across the seat on a blanket.

"You're dog's adorable. I used to have a Chow Alsation mix called--" Cherry stopped in mid-sentence.

"What was it called?"

"Um, Cherry."

Charlotte laughed.

"You called your dog after yourself? Wasn't that a bit confusing?"

"Um, sometimes, yeah. So, um, are you anyone's Ol' Lady?" Cherry asked, wanting to shift the topic of conversation.

Charlotte flinched in her seat.

"No," she replied, simply.

She'd kill the Prospect herself if he'd been talking to Cherry about what he knew.

"Does Half-Sack ever tell you about what goes on in the Club?"

"No, never. I've been doing this a _long_ time, Charlie. I know when to keep my mouth closed."

Charlotte was relieved at hearing that. It soon became apparent that Cherry was a talker and throughout the car ride Charlotte had discovered the gist of Cherry's life history. There were no apparent dark skeletons in her closet--for now.

* * *

Charlotte spotted an open space right near the entrance, but just as she was about to pull in, some dick in a silver sports car cut in front of her. She braked hard to avoid collision and poor old Cherry nearly broke her nose on the dashboard again.

"Hey, dick shit!" she yelled out her window.

The driver stuck his head out of his window and looked back at her.

"Sorry. I didn't see you there, sweetbutt," he replied sarcastically, sniggering to his friend in the passenger seat.

"You here for the fight?" she shouted.

She recognised him as Ryan Whittaker--a wannabe biker. He didn't like bikes. He just liked the weight that wearing an Sons of Anarchy cut in Charming would carry. He'd hung out at the Clubhouse a few times, but he'd always been sent home packing with his tail between his legs.

"Yeah, and what?"

"How about I get Tig to put you in for a few rounds with the big boys, huh? We'll _see_ if your moves keep up with that smart mouth of yours."

"Shut the fuck up," he replied rudely, as he and his friend exited the car.

"What a douche bag!" Cherry commented.

Charlotte smiled and parked her car right up alongside Ryan's car. There was no way he could get out--even Cherry had to scoot across and get out Charlotte's side.

"He's going to be seriously pissed when he comes back."

"I hope so."

* * *

Somewhere between the fourth round and the fifth round, Charlotte had completely misplaced Cherry. They hadn't instantly bonded and were now joined at the hip, but it was just nice to have a female accomplice similar to age in a room full of raging egos and testosterone.

Waiting for a beer at the bar, she overheard two guys talking behind her.

"Man, this kid's loosing it."

"I know. He started out real strong, too."

"Don't think this is...y'know."

"What?"

"Rigged?"

Charlotte took her beer and walked around to Half-Sack's corner where Tig and Chibs were on the ropes, yelling at him to keep his hands up. She noticed that Ryan was on the opposite side of the ring, yelling at his friend. If the Club didn't have money riding on Half-Sack losing, she'd want that son of a bitch knocked out, just to spite his trainer. At least the Prospect was getting a few punches in and making him bleed.

From where Chibs and Tig were standing, they couldn't hear her calling their names. Charlotte reached up and squeezed Chibs' calf. He looked down, noticing her, and motioned his head for her to get up on the ropes. She shook her head 'no'. She was wearing four-inch heels. There was no way that she could get up that thing without breaking her ankle.

She squeezed his calf harder this time and he looked back down to her and then to the ring before he hesitantly jumped down. If she was here to talk about 'relationships' or bitch at him because she'd seen Emily Duncan in the crowds, she could bloody wait.

She leant closer to him, so that he would be able to hear her over the crowd's noise, placing a hand on his shoulder as she spoke in his ear. Her breasts pushed up against his chest and just as he thought she was going to suggest something X-rated, she came out with, "You need to wrap this shit up, Chibs. People are catching on."

"Okay," he replied simply, jumping back up to the ring and leaning closer to Tig.

"Need to shut this down, brother. People are getting suspect."

"Alright, alright, next round for sure," Tig agreed.

Charlotte was sitting next to Cherry, watching the action, when Clay finally appeared and sat next to Cherry. He gave Charlotte a look and she nodded her head slightly, silently indicating that Cherry was okay.

* * *

"Get the hell outta here before I rape both of ya."

"Hey! Tig!" Bobby scolded.

"What? It's just an expression--a term of endearment."

Charlotte sniggered to herself at the look of shock and bewilderment that passed across Cherry's face. If she was going to stick around, she had to learn to let those kinds of 'remarks' brush off of her.

"And you--don't think you're getting away with anything."

Tig put a finger in Charlotte's face and she grabbed on to it.

"Ow! Bitch!" Tig hissed.

His finger was highly sensitive after a riding accident years ago. He'd needed surgery after his bone had broken and some of his nerves had been damaged, too. Applying pressure on a certain spot on his finger could have him reeling on the ground.

"Hey bitch, move your goddamn car!"

Charlotte recognised that voice, but didn't say anything. She hoped he would keep shooting his mouth off. This could be fun.

"Hey! I'm talking to you. Goddamn whore--"

Ryan approached her but stopped in his tracks as he rounded Clay's truck and saw the people she was with up close.

"What did you just say?" Clay asked.

"N-Nothing," Ryan stuttered.

"I heard bitch," Bobby said.

"I heard whore," Chibs joined in.

"And I heard Goddamn. Do you go to Church with that mouth? You should be ashamed."

Tig shook his head and tutted.

"I'll be going in like ten minutes," Charlotte replied, sweetly.

"But I need to get--"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence as Chibs nodded to Half-Sack and he gave him a solid punch on the nose. He writhed in pain on the ground, blood spurting out as one of his friends came and took him away.

"Does this mean I still owe the club thirty-five kay?" Half-Sack asked with some hope.

"Yes, you do. Muppet." Chibs replied.

* * *

After Charlotte dropped Cherry off at her apartment block, she pulled into her own driveway and looked for the cream-coloured Pontiac. It had become second nature to her to look out for it, and when she noticed it wasn't on the street, it actually unnerved her. Walking into her house, it wasn't until she reached the living room that she realised she hadn't needed to unlock her front door--it had already been open. She sure as hell hadn't left it open and she hadn't left that lamp on, either.

As Madison trotted towards her food bowl, Charlotte heard a sound from behind and spun around. She was quickly spun back the other way by a pair of arms much stronger than she was, hand covering her mouth, which stifled her scream.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the man kept repeating in her ear.

Charlotte screamed into his hand again and started to wriggle. Her phone was just in her pocket. If she could manoeuvre her hand a little, she would be able to get it and call for help.

The man reached into her pocket and she screamed into his hand again. She was going to be raped in her own home!

"Relax," he said, grabbing her mobile phone and holding it in front of her face before throwing it on the ground.

The back casing split open and the battery skidded across the floor.

When she realised he was only after her phone and not her panties, she stopped screaming and flailing her arms around.

"I'll let you go, but if you scream, I'm bringing out the cable ties and duct tape, okay?"

Charlotte nodded and true to her word, she didn't scream. She stepped away and turned to see him. He was tall with broad shoulders, bald, and wearing a baby blue work shirt with the collar just open enough for her to see the tattoo on his chest of two snakes eating each other's tails. She figured he must be one of Darby's guys.

"You were the one in the Pontiac," her voice wavered.

"Yeah. I knew you caught onto me. That's why I parked it two blocks down."

"What the hell do you want? Clay's gonna be really pissed when I tell him you broke into my house!"

"I didn't break in," he smiled lightly, holding up her spare key that used to be kept on top of her doorframe.

"What do you want?" she asked again.

He wasn't carrying a gun, but she spotted a sheathed knife hanging from his belt. It appeared to be the weapon of choice for the outlaw male population of Charming.

"You're Charlotte Davis-Morrow. Your mother is Sharon Davis, right?"

"Yeah, so?" her voice cracked again.

"My name's Nathan Drone. I'm a friend of Sharon's."

"A friend?" Charlotte repeated, stepping back on shaky legs and falling on the sofa.

Her mother had some choice friends, if they sneaked up behind people in their own homes!

"She's been hunting you down for almost a year. With your father moving over to the US, you getting adopted and changing your name, it's been a lot of work. Plus, there's not a lot of people in this town who willingly give up information."

His fingers drummed on his sheathed knife and Charlotte wondered just who had dished out information on her, and whether or not that person was still alive.

He pulled something out of his pocket and thrust it towards her. She screamed and Madison finally showed signs of life and started barking.

"Relax!" he shouted above the barking and Charlotte looked closer to see that he was holding out a piece of paper to her that read:

_Sharon_

_Vista Inn, Lodi_

_1-808-586534_

"She's in town for a few more days. She'd really like to see you." And that was all he said before he left her alone again.

Charlotte just nodded her head, fearing her heart would burst out of her chest at the rate it was pumping.

**A/N: Anyone notice anything special about the phone number for the Vista Inn?? Winner gets an E-Cookie.**


	6. A Junkie's Hell

**A/N: Again, thank you all for your reviews. No matter how long or short your review is, it means something to me.**

**We're at the half way mark now! If any of you are interested I have a few One-Shots that I thought I could do that relate to this story. If you guys leave me a message or a review as to which One-Shot you would most like to read, I will write it up for you. The choices are;**

**1) A One-Shot about the night that Paul Davis died  
2) A One-Shot on how Charlotte and Chibs first got together  
3) A One-Shot on how Kip came to be the Prospect**

**Chapter Five: A Junkie's Hell**

After her rude introduction to Nathan Drone, Charlotte had been tense and snappy at everybody around her.

"You okay, baby?" Gemma asked her one morning at the garage, smoothing down some hair that had gone wild at the front of her face.

Sometimes when Gemma looked at Charlotte, she still saw the thirteen-year-old frightened teenager, sitting on a plastic chair in a hospital corner, shaking from fear and shock at the death of her father. Gemma had knelt down in front of the scared child to offer words of comfort. Charlotte lunged forward and grabbed hold of Gemma. She was hanging onto her, _clinging_ to her for guidance and support. Gemma had hugged her back and let Charlotte's tears run onto the crook of her neck.

She had always wanted a third child, but even when she was pregnant with Jax the Doctor had warned her that the labour could kill both her and the baby. When Thomas was born, she very nearly died and did not want to risk her life for a third child, no matter how much she had wanted one. But Gemma always got what she wanted somehow and Charlotte was the nearest thing to a God-given miracle that Gemma would ever get.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Gemma didn't believe her, but she knew from experience not to push Charlotte or she would clam up and withdraw into herself. Gemma showed her utmost restraint and decided to give her a little space, a little time and then Charlotte would come to her and let her know what was bothering her.

"Something's up with Charlotte," Gemma stated, spacing the office blinds open with her fingers and peering out at her daughter talking to a client on the forecourt.

"She's a woman. There's always something 'up' with her," Clay sighed, leafing through paperwork, slamming drawers open and shut to find something.

Gemma turned on her heel to her husband.

"I'm serious, Clay. Keep an eye on her."

Clay stood up straight.

"Next month, it'll be twelve years since Paul died," he offered, "You know she gets upset."

"Yeah, well, you know she likes to bottle shit up, too."

Gemma resumed her watch post.

* * *

Charlotte had barely slept soundly for a couple of nights. Lying awake in bed, all she kept thinking of was seeing her mother for the first time in twenty-one years. All she had as a reference of her was a picture taken on Charlotte's very first Christmas. She, her father and her mother sat around the Christmas tree. Her mother had strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes, while her dad had dark hair and brown eyes. Charlotte inherited her mother's lips, but everything else was from her father.

After Nathan had scared the shit out of her, she had dialled the number he had left.

Charlotte knew that if she didn't, she would end up regretting it for the rest of her life. It was just a phone call. They weren't becoming best friends and planning mother-daughter day trips with each other.

They had arranged to meet at Lumpy's at 1pm the following afternoon. Charlotte got there twenty minutes early, sitting in her car and peering into the inside of every car that pulled into the parking lot. She got restless after ten minutes and took a booth inside the restaurant where she would be able to spot her mother coming in. The waitress approached and Charlotte ordered a coffee.

"Oh, wait, make that two please," she told the waitress.

Did her mother even drink coffee? She was addicted to the stuff, so she automatically assumed everybody else was. She remembered the time she had woken up to the aroma of the coffee Chibs had been brewing in her kitchen. She had snuggled deeper into her duvet, expecting him to bring her a mug of it in bed. Instead, he had yelled up to her.

"Charlie! Coffee!"

She had barely seen him since that night when she asked him to leave, but she constantly thought of him.

She missed the way he used to peer at her over the top of his glasses whilst he was working on a bike and she was in the office. She'd pretend not to notice him looking at her and she'd either cross her legs, making her skirt or dress ride up to expose more leg or bend over so he could cop an eyeful of her tits.

"Charlie baby," he'd sometimes say, "You've got the best tits I've ever seen!"

The remark was so vulgar, but she took it as a compliment and it made her blush madly.

She had to stop thinking about him!

"Charlotte?" she was shaken out her trance by a female voice.

Looking up she saw her mother--the woman from the photograph that had hung on her wall for years had now materialised in front of her.

"Hey," Charlotte said, getting up on shaky legs.

"Oh my word!"

Sharon placed a hand over her mouth and looked at the young woman in front of her.

"You look so much like your father!"

The two briefly hugged before Sharon took a seat opposite Charlotte in the booth and got a tissue out of her bag to dry her eyes.

Charlotte chose to bypass that comment.

"I got you a coffee."

She pushed one of the mugs towards her mother, eyes flicking to the entrance and panicking slightly as she thought she saw Tig enter, but it wasn't.

"Thank you."

Sharon dragged the mug closer to her and the waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was a bit overly keen considering Sharon had only just arrived and Charlotte asked her to give them a couple of minutes. During the time Charlotte was talking to the waitress, she noticed that Sharon delved into her bag, bringing out a small flask.

Sharon unscrewed the tiny lid and poured a few drops of the brown liquid into her coffee before quickly hiding it in her bag again, taking a plastic spoon from the condiments box on their table and stirring it. Sharon did it so quickly that by the time the waitress left, Charlotte began to think she was mistaken.

"So, what do you do? College? Are you married?" Sharon asked, taking a large gulp from her whisky laced coffee.

"You hired Nathan. I thought he would've told you all that," Charlotte replied, flatly.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for him to scare you. I just panicked when you didn't answer my letters. I've spent so long looking for you."

Sharon reached across the table to take Charlotte's hand and looking down, she noticed faded track marks in her mother hands. Great. Her mother was an ex-junkie as well as an alcoholic.

"Why did you leave?" Charlotte snapped, "Why did you leave to come back twenty-one years later?"

"I was a mess."

Sharon put on her puppy dog eyes.

"I was always alone with you in the house and I just started hitting the bottle to take the loneliness away. It just spiralled out of control and I knew I had to leave before I started to hurt you or your father. I never stopped loving either of you and I always thought about you."

"Well, you did hurt me. Hurt _us_. Where did you run to? Why did you never come back?"

"I had an old school friend who married a guy from Tennessee. I went to stay with her and I just..."

"Got into bad habits?" Charlotte offered, touching the tracks on her mother's hands--seemed like Wendy wasn't the only one who had a favourite vein there.

"Yeah. I was so messed up. There was no way I could ever have tried to contact you when I was like that."

Sharon reached into her bag again and just as Charlotte thought the whiskey flask was coming out again, a packet of cigarettes landed on the table and the impatient waitress came and finally took their lunch order.

"I'm proud of you." Sharon lit up a cigarette. "You went to college."

"I went for a year and it was a course on how to design jewellery--hardly rocket science."

"Nathan's been showing me pictures. You're always with that gang, the Sons of Anarchy. You seem like a happy family, very close."

Charlotte shrugged at the lack of anything to say in response to that comment.

"I'd like to meet them. And Gemma and Clay especially, for taking you in like they did."

Charlotte placed her mug on the table a little louder than she intended too.

"Sharon--" she started, not feeling comfortable calling her anything else, "It's good to finally meet you after staring at a photograph for twenty-one years but...that's moving too fast for me."

"Of course. I apologise."

They made little conversation over lunch. As the waitress took their plates away, Sharon spoke again.

"I was, um, upset to find out that your father had died. A stroke, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," she answered simply.

"Do you," Sharon hesitated, "Have money and stuff? Nathan said you drove a nice car."

"I get by," Charlotte shrugged, "I bought the car with some of Dad's insurance money."

_Some? _Sharon pondered at the sound of 'some'.

Charlotte reached into her bag to take money out of her purse.

"Let me."

Sharon handed the money back to Charlotte and placed a ten dollar bill on the table to pay for their meal before they walked out of the restaurant.

"I'd like to see you again," Sharon breathed, as they stood out in the parking lot next to Charlotte's car.

"Um," Charlotte thought for a second, rubbing her hands on her arms. "How long are you staying?" she asked, remembering her mother was staying in a hotel.

"Well, I'm booked in my hotel for another three nights, but I can stay longer."

"You have my number," Charlotte offered.

"I do."

They hugged awkwardly and as Charlotte got in her car, Sharon continued to stand there.

"Did you come in a cab?" Charlotte asked as her electric window wound down.

"Bus."

The buses from Charming to Lodi ran every two hours. Looking at her watch, it was just past 2pm, so the next bus wouldn't arrive until 4pm--another two hours.

"I'll give you a ride."

"Really?"

"Get in," Charlotte exhaled deeply as her mother walked around to the passenger seat. She couldn't have her mother sitting at a bus stop for 2 hours. Gemma's 'giving' nature must've rubbed off on her.

* * *

Pulling into the Vista Inn, Charlotte noticed a couple of Darby's guys hanging out in the back parking lot. Their tattoos were unmistakable, peeking from under their white vest tops.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath, as she parked right against a wall. If she was lucky, they wouldn't recognise that it was her in the car.

After Sharon exited, Charlotte pulled out of the parking lot and stopped at the traffic lights, which conveniently just so happened to be on the opposite side of the three foot wall against where the Nords were parked. She sank into her seat, putting on her over-sized, paparazzi dodging-style sunglasses in the hopes of masking her face. The Nords wouldn't physically do anything to her--maybe shout some sexual obscenities, but she was more worried that news of her being there would head back to Clay and she didn't have a good enough alibi to be heading into Lodi alone.

At this point in time, she didn't want anybody to know about her mother. She herself didn't even know where it was heading, if anywhere.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sharon walk across the parking lot towards the Nords.

_What the hell are you doing?_ She thought, watching as Sharon handed money over in exchange for a small bag filled with white powder.

_Stupid question._

Charlotte sped off as the light turned green, heading back to Charming with the knowledge that her mother was a potential alcoholic, but a definite drug user. She'd barely even waited for Charlotte to drive off before heading back into the lot to get her fix.


	7. Better Off Alone

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, and thank you to those people who are adding me to their Favourite Stories list. I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that the voting for the One Shot will remain 'open' right up until I post the last chapter. The One Shot about Chibs/Charlie is winning at the moment, so if you want a different one, send me a message! **

**Chapter Six: Better Off Alone**

"Detective Hale, these are the typed reports from the AK incident."

Amanda Staff handed the Detective the notes and reports on the case.

"Thanks."

He took them from her and headed into the office that was once Unser's before Agent Stahl took over. He was surprised to see her putting on her jacket, a neat pile of files in front of her.

"Heading somewhere?" he asked.

"Going for a picnic in the woods. Wanna come, big bear?"

He rolled his eyes.

"We found enough drugs at Luanne's to put her away in a cell. All I have to do is pit her jail time against Big Boy Otto, get a confession from him and ladies and gentlemen we have a RICO."

Otto was old-time SAMCRO. As much as Hale hated to admit it, he knew Otto would never rat. But then again, there wasn't a lot that that Otto wouldn't do for Luanne. He put his report on the edge of the desk and grabbed his sports jacket that was hanging on the coat stand.

"I'm coming, too."

Stahl took a quick, inquisitive peek at Hale's typed reports. After a few weeks reading non-stop files regarding Sons of Anarchy members, her brain went into autopilot and scoured pages for keywords. The word "Morrow" sprung out of the page at her.

"What're these from?" Stahl asked.

"Typed reports from the incident with the AK's," he shrugged.

"Who the hell is this?"

She pointed to the typed statement by Charlotte about the incident.

"She's the only surviving eye-witness besides Trammel."

"Charlotte Davis-_Morrow_? Does Clay have a _daughter_?"

How could she have missed this information beforehand?

"Yeah, kind of. She's adopted," Hale shrugged.

"And you never thought to mention this to me?" Stahl snapped.

Hale shrugged again and from the look on Stahl's face--that was the worst thing he could've done right then.

"Tell me _everything_."

* * *

Charlotte swung the door open and was surprised to see a slim woman with brunette hair and a sharp suit at her door. If it weren't for the badge that was thrust in her face, Charlotte would've pinned her down for a lawyer.

"Agent June Stahl, ATF. May I talk with you Miss Morrow?" the lady asked with a forced smile.

"It's Miss _Davis_-Morrow," Charlotte returned sharply.

"Oh, I do apologise," Agent Stahl smirked.

"Come in," Charlotte shrugged and stepped aside, leading Agent Stahl to her living room and offering a seat.

"This is a nice place you have here," Stahl noted.

She wondered if the huge wide screen TV situated in the corner had been bought with dirty money. Maybe it hadn't been paid for at all and just happened to 'fall off' a truck.

"Was there something you wanted Agent Stool?"

"It's _Stahl_."

"Right."

The two women looked at each other for a few seconds before Stahl spoke again.

"It was awfully nice of Gemma and Clay to adopt you, after your father died."

Stahl smiled tightly. After Hale told her that Charlotte had never been arrested for anything in her life and the only thing staining her criminal record were a few parking and speeding tickets, Stahl had to go and see the Princess of Charming for herself. She had found it nearly impossible to believe that someone who was without a doubt affiliated with the Sons could be so evasive of the law. Then again, after spending a couple of weeks in the town, the Sons certainly had their slippery moments when it came to the law. But that was a whole different kettle of fish, ready for frying another day.

Stahl continued talking when Charlotte didn't respond.

"Living with Clay and Gemma for a number of years, working at the garage and hanging around the Sons, I bet you've seen a thing...or two."

"A 'thing'? Could you be a little more specific, Agent?"

Charlotte looked across at the agent over her cup of coffee.

She'd play dumb, as she always did when the Sons were in a bit of trouble with the law. She didn't see or hear anything. She'd been in the bathroom the whole time or she'd give falsified statements like, 'The guy with the blue T-shirt ran at Tig with a knife, officer, it was self defence'--that sort of thing. She'd play dumb and bail them out later if they needed it. She'd been in that police station more times than anyone, but she'd always been on the right side of the desk.

"What is it Charlotte? Hmm? Hanging around fat, aging, balding men wearing leather and riding big bad bikes give you the hots? That why you stick around?"

Charlotte eyed Stahl for a few seconds, trying to figure out if that comment was about her and Chibs. Stahl couldn't know. How could she? Any member of the Sons staying at her house overnight was not uncommon.

"They're my _family_."

Stahl laughed at her.

"Was your father family to the Sons, Charlotte? Did you know that he entered this country illegally?"

Charlotte was fuming on the inside and just as she was about to come back with a snappy remark, they both heard the rumble of a bike's engine head down the street, past the house.

"What, you guys have a bat signal or something?"

Stahl raised an eyebrow as she laid out some forms on the coffee table.

"These are copies of your adoption papers. You may have been living in this country for sixteen years and you may have your own green card, but if I suspect you've been harbouring important information, like a fugitive, or have anything to do with SAMCRO's illegal activities, I can deport you back to England so fast, you won't have time to pack."

Charlotte leant forward in her seat.

"They're motorcycle enthusiasts," she replied slowly.

Stahl laughed at her again.

"That's good. That's really good Charlotte. I'll leave you my card in case you do happen to see a thing or two that would interest me."

Charlotte snatched the business card away and the Agent grabbed her papers and let herself out.

"Lock the door Miss Davis-Morrow. You never know who's around."

Charlotte threw the card on her coffee table and picked up her phone to dial Gemma.

"That fucking ATF bitch, Stahl's, just been round my place trying to get me to stir some shit up about SAMCRO!" Charlotte blurted out.

"Don't you worry about that skinny little bitch. She's got a bee in her bonnet, but if she sticks around any longer, it's going to end up stinging her."

Gemma put some cans in her trolley as she walked down the aisle in the grocery store.

"She's picked up Luanne earlier on a drug charge. I think she's pecking at us girls."

"Shit. What about Cherry and Donna?"

"So what about them? Cherry doesn't know shit anyway and even if she did, her head's so far up Half-Sack's ass, she wouldn't rat if she knew it would break them up."

"And Donna? She's not exactly our number one fan right now."

"Donna cannot afford to let Opie go back to jail. She needs him. She needs _us_. Don't worry about it, baby."

"I don't like that Agent," Charlotte confessed.

She would never rat on the boys, but that didn't mean she enjoyed house visits from Feds.

Gemma didn't have time to answer as Cherry suddenly appeared at her side.

"Gemma--Gemma I really need to talk to you."

"Hang on, baby. I'll call you back."

Gemma ended her call and turned to Cherry. She didn't need two guesses to figure out why she was here.

"ATF harassing you, too?"

"How did you know?" the young woman asked with wide eyes.

* * *

After doing some grocery shopping and dropping off a few jewellery pieces she had done for customers, Charlotte returned home to find her driveway packed with ATF cars. She guessed that Stahl had an even bigger chip on her shoulder than expected.

"What the hell is going on in here?" she yelled above the noise they were making.

They were slamming her cupboard doors, pulling out her drawers, leaving paper, nick-nacks and all sorts strewn all over her house. Agent Stahl came down the stairs, holding a clear plastic bag with a small black beretta in it.

_Shit!_

They'd found her 'emergency' gun, hidden away in her nightstand.

"Since I'm guessing you don't have a licence for this, I think we need to talk, young lady."

Stahl shook the bag in her hand and nodded at one of her minions who cuffed Charlotte's hands behind her back. Unser appeared at her side, sipping coffee and being generally and completely useless. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him.

"We had an agreement."

By 'we', she meant the Sons of Anarchy and all those affiliated with them.

Unser shrugged.

"I ain't got no say in this Charlotte. My hands are tied, just like yours."

"Oh that's really funny. Call Clay."

She spoke over her shoulder as she was taken away in one of those black, swanky cars that were littering her driveway. The neighbours were out on the street watching her and those that weren't out there were curtain twitching.

* * *

"We had an agreement, Unser."

Clay had called a meeting along with Unser and the Prospect as 'special guests'.

_Well there's a line that sounds familiar,_ Unser thought.

"ATF have their own rules and regulations. My hands were tied."

He gave the same excuse to the table as he did to Charlotte.

"Charlie doesn't have guns or drugs in that house. Why the hell would they even bother to search?" Bobby asked.

He stayed there the most out of everybody. With two ex-wives prowling for money, he often stayed for the night at Charlotte's house when one of them turned up on his doorstep, banging on the door for alimony and all that shit.

"ATF are just tryin' to piss in our stream," Chibs replied, exhaling on his cigarette.

"Well, piss or no piss, Stahl found a gun," Unser put forward.

Clay looked to Jax for reassurance that the gun was clean. Charlotte wasn't stupid by any means, but he liked to know for sure.

"It's clean," Jax confirmed, "Gemma gave it to her."

Jax remembered Charlie telling him about where she had hid the gun; she'd been pleased as punch about her 'secret' place. He had laughed, but he had to admit that if you didn't know where it was already, it wasn't an obvious place to look. ATF must've torn that place up.

* * *

After a grilling from Stahl and then Hale coming in for a visit, Charlotte was glad to be led to a cell while the gun was being checked for serial numbers, registry and prints. Luanne was still being held, but surprisingly Cherry was there, too.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" she asked, when the officer had gone.

Gemma wasn't kidding when she said they were going after the women of SAMCRO. She half-expected Gemma to walk in soon on a bogus charge.

Cherry was pacing her cell and it was obvious that the young girl was panicking; and after hearing her story about her husband and burning down their condo, she had every reason to be. Charlotte was hoping that whatever plan the Club was coming up with, it had better be under way and fast.

Later that night, the three women were still locked away. Cherry was still pacing; Luanne was still talking about Hummers, Anal beads and ad revenue from her site; Charlotte was lying on the hard mattress, trying to block everything out. The cell door suddenly opened and Charlotte jumped off her bed after seeing Jax enter. He gave her that trademark smirk cum smile of his and headed over to Luanne. He said something to her about Otto, a RICO, and a conjugal visit. It was hard to make out his words exactly, as Cherry kept shrieking for him to get her out of there.

"Hey! Calm down!" Jax scolded. Cherry convinced him to get her out and he did. "Chibs is waiting in the hallway."

At the mention of his name, Charlotte pressed her head closer against her bars to see if she could see him. She could see a bit of his arm and watched with a pang of jealously as he placed his hand on the base of Cherry's spine and walked her out. Jax appeared at her cell.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked and she nodded yes as he placed his hands over hers on the cell bars, "There's nothing on that gun. You'll be out by morning."

"Yummy, I get to stay for breakfast."

He politely smiled at her attempt at humour.

"Jacky boy, we gotta split."

Chibs appeared in the doorway, motioning with his head down the hallway.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow," Jax promised, kissing her forehead and exiting the cells.

She could hear Unser in the background giving him shit for busting out Cherry.

"Button it, old man!" was his reply.

Catching Chibs' eye as he pulled the main cell door closed, she gave him a small smile. It was the fist time they'd been close to 'alone' since their huge fight about Emily fucking Duncan. He paused for a second, finding it odd to be on the other side of a 10x8 cell. He realised that seeing her behind bars turned him on. If she ever let him back in her bedroom, he'd have to suggest handcuffs.

As he turned to leave, he gave her a wink.


	8. Crappy Liar Part One

**A/N: Chapter Seven is in two parts. Thanks to those of you who are taking the time to review or adding me to your alert or favourites list. **

**Chapter Seven: Crappy Liar**

Being locked in a jail cell overnight was hungry work. Jax had caved and drove one of the garage's breakdown cars to pick Charlotte up. She wasn't a huge fan of riding the two-wheel vehicle variety, even packing double with experienced riders such as Bobby or Tig. Jax bought them a takeaway lunch at "Cheesus Crust", a local pizza parlour that had just opened, and he spent the entire car journey ribbing her about how now her criminal record was stained. After lunch, Jax dropped her off at home, knowing how much she would love a shower and to change her clothes. Plus, he had to get back to the garage and find Opie.

Charlotte was working on some jewellery pieces when her home phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Charlotte?"

"Yeah?" she answered cautiously, not recognising the voice on the other end.

"It's your mother," Sharon slurred on the other line. She sounded drunk or high--or perhaps both.

"You okay?"

They weren't best of friends, but she didn't want her mother "OD"'ing over the phone on her.

"Are you busy? Come over to Lodi. Let's get something to eat."

"I just ate."

"We can talk."

She sounded optimistic, bordering on desperate.

Charlotte paused for a while. Sharon was reaching out and Charlotte decided to take her hand.

"Okay."

***

Charlotte took a seat on the only chair in the motel room, ignoring the loud creak it made under her applied weight.

"You look nice."

Sharon sat on the edge of the bed, opposite Charlotte, after locking the door.

"Thanks. What have you been up to?"

She scanned the room and saw a spoon on the nightstand. Sharon caught her looking, knowing what she had seen and folded her arms so her track marks on her hands weren't completely visible.

"Um, shopping, sightseeing."

"Sightseeing in Lodi?"

Charlotte nearly laughed. Sharon shrugged. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Charlotte decided to ask her burning question.

"Do you have a problem?"

"Excuse me?"

"With drugs? Alcohol?"

Sharon had the nerve to look hurt.

"I saw you pour alcohol into your coffee at Lumpy's. There's track marks on your hands. The only utensil in your room is a fucking spoon and I saw you score in the parking lot. Just admit it."

"Alright, alright!" Sharon agreed. She had no energy to cover up the truth with her lies. "I have a problem, but I can control it."

"Bullshit!"

Charlotte reached across and grabbed Sharon's arm, pulling her hand free, showing it to her.

"These are fresh tracks! This room _stinks_ of alcohol!"

"Don't you dare preach to me," Sharon snapped, pulling her hand away, "I know I have a problem – my liver's fucking packed up already for Christ's sake – look at all these pills I have to take every god damn day!"

Sharon grabbed a pill tray from the nightstand and emptied multicoloured pills into Charlotte's lap. Charlotte remained still as Sharon stood above her, chest heaving from her little outburst.

"I'm going to change. I'm getting help. I'm getting a liver transplant."

Charlotte studied Sharon's face. She noticed that it was a tinged yellow colour the other day but assumed it was the dodgy lighting at Lumpy's.

"That's not help Sharon. That's a fucking way out! A coward's way out."

"I'm going to get my new liver and you're going to help me!"

She thrust a finger in her face.

"Jesus, woman, get a grip of yourself."

Charlotte slung her bag on her shoulder and went to leave. Sharon moved quickly and blocked the door.

"Get out of my way. I'm leaving."

"You're not leaving this room until you give me what I came here for--Money."

"I don't have any money."

"I'm still in legal rights for your father's life insurance money. We never divorced. I'm a widow – I want what's rightfully mine – I want my goddamn money!"

Charlotte slapped her face. Sharon was shocked but then laughed, holding a hand up to her burning cheek.

"Did the biker boys teach you that, sweetheart?"

"Shut up and get out of my way, you junkie bitch!"

Sharon moved out of the way, but the door was locked and dead bolted, and by the time Charlotte was even half way through the locks Sharon returned with a photograph in her hand.

Charlotte glanced at the picture out of curiosity and her eyes went wide. It was a photograph of Tig and Juice assembling AK's out of oil drums.

"There's a whole pile of 'em in that envelope."

Sharon nodded towards the nightstand.

Charlotte went over and felt inside the brown envelope, pulling out the glossy photographs. There were pictures of the Sons in various criminal activities – even pictures of AK's _inside_ the oil drums. How the hell had Sharon managed to get that close without being undetected?

"Nathan's pretty damn good."

"Nathan?"

Of course. How could Charlotte of been so stupid? Nathan was trailing her and when he wasn't, he was gathering incriminating photographs of everybody else.

"You had this all planned out, didn't you?" Charlotte accused, "Nathan, the pictures, black mailing me for money?"

"Not entirely."

Sharon sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I found out that Clay and Gemma adopted you and that you still lived in that backwards hick town. I asked Nathan to follow you, yes. When he told me who Clay was, well, let's just say I decided to take out an insurance policy of my own in case you weren't co-operative. Nathan's got a future in photography, don't you think?"

Charlotte had to agree to that. These pictures could take down every member of SAMCRO for a lifetime. Agent Stahl would have an orgasm over the pictures Nathan had took. If his photography didn't take off, he'd make a good Agent.

"You bitch!" Charlotte hissed, "Burn 'em!"

"Give me my money and I'll burn everything!"

"You do not barter with me on this one!"

Charlotte backed Sharon against the wall. She could be a junkie and an alcoholic. She could be a heartless, greedy bitch and only want money, but one thing she could not do was destroy Charlotte's family.

"You burn everything here, now, or I'll take you to the Sons myself."

"Fine," Sharon shrugged, "I'll burn them here, but Nathan still has them on his memory card. Isn't technology great?" She smirked.

"Fuck!" Charlotte cursed.

She didn't know where Nathan was. He was dangerous and unpredictable. She couldn't take him on to get the memory card without the Sons' back up.

"How much do you want?"

"Sixty grand, cash, day after tomorrow."

Charlotte grabbed her mother's head and slammed it against the wall several times before she collapsed to the floor in agony. She took the envelope of photos and ran out of the motel room, leaving the cleaning maid in the hallway in a cloud of metaphorical dust. She jumped in her car and raced back to Charming to the garage. She needed to tell Clay everything - Nathan could be snapping away pictures of them at that very moment.

He needed to be taken care of.


	9. Crappy Liar Part Two

**Chapter Seven: Crappy Liar – Part Two**

Juice saw Charlotte's car gunning for him. He didn't think she would stop in time at the speed she was going. She braked hard and a squeal came up from her brake pads, stopping inches from him and the bike he was working on.

"Where's Clay?!" she yelled at him before she was even fully out the car.

"He's out."

"Jax?"

"Out too."

"Tig? Anyone here?!" she flustered.

She liked Juice, but she didn't think that in this sort of crisis he had the right head on him to figure this out.

"Tig's with Clay. Half-Sack's in the back," he thumbed behind him, "Chibs is in the Clubhouse."

Charlotte turned and ran over to the Clubhouse. Typical; any other day they'd all be hanging around on the benches, smoking and drinking, but today of all days they'd decided to go off doing errands.

Charlotte burst through the Clubhouse door, the reaper shaking when she slammed it shut. Even if he was bothered about the sudden intrusion, Chibs showed no signs of it. He remained leaning on the bar on his forearms, reading through '_The Charming Enquirer' _newspaper.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, not even looking up from his paper. A brown envelope was thrust into his chest.

"You're in deep shit! This _Club_ is in deep shit."

Chibs raised his eyebrows and delved into the envelope, bringing out glossy, 7x9 photographs of…

"Holy Christ!" he shouted, looking at a photograph of himself, Jax and Tig beating the shit out of the Carnival folk at Fun Town. They'd been careful that night, hadn't they?

"I know!" Charlotte replied, pacing the Clubhouse floor.

Chibs started to flick through all the photographs. There was enough evidence here to put them all away for life. Whoever had taken these was good – beyond good.

"Where the hell did you get these from?"

"Long story."

She rubbed her face.

"Are you being stalked?" he asked, face turning into a smirk as he held up a picture of him and her kissing, both half naked, standing in front of her living room window.

"Stop it!" she scolded, snatching the photo from him and ripped it up, stuffing the remains inside her bag. Chibs was already calling Clay on the pre-pay.

***

"Let's just kill 'im," Tig suggested.

Charlotte had sat with Clay in the Church one-to-one and showed him the pictures, told him the whole story of meeting her mother and of Nathan Drone. Afterwards, he had called an emergency meeting and re-told the story to everybody else. Charlotte was waiting, pacing up and down outside the Church door.

"No," Jax replied sternly.

"This guy knows about the guns, the beatings, the bodies," Tig rattled off on his fingers.

"This guy is good, a'ight? He's not some two-bit punk from the street. He's been trained for this kind of shit," he said, throwing a photo towards Tig, "He's probably connected. We don't know who he works for or with. We can't just off him and expect nobody to miss him. ATF are still floating around. We can't afford to add another body to the list, another track to cover, another alibi to figure out."

"Then what the hell do you suggest? Give him a fuckin' fridge magnet? Thanks for visiting Charming. Come again soon. Then send him on his way? He's a _rat _you_ know _what we do to rats."

Chibs placed a hand on Tig's arm to calm him down. He was as angry inside as Tig was on the outside, but he was using all his self-control not to show it.

"What's _your_ master plan then, VP?"

Jax sighed. This couldn't have come at a worse time. He was still trying to reach out to Opie and this setback was costing the Club time they didn't have.

"A'ight. Here's what we do. Me and Chibs will go home with Charlie. We'll wait for Nathan to leave – he has to at some point. We'll follow him, get the memory card, escort him out of Charming and make sure he doesn't come back."

"You better make sure he _never_ comes back here, understand?" Clay ordered.

"Absolutely," Jax and Chibs agreed.

***

Charlotte had got home first and rang Jax to tell him that Nathan wasn't outside yet. Even after the night he entered her house, Nathan still watched her from his car outside. She guessed that Sharon wanted to make sure she didn't leave town.

Chibs and Jax arrived in a 'borrowed' car and parked it in Charlotte's garage. Jax headed upstairs to the spare bedroom, peering out the window, but leaving the light off. Chibs remained downstairs, leaning back on a dining room chair, peering through the small slits in the semi-closed blinds that looked out onto the street. Madison had taken up a seat on the floor beside him and he was scratching behind her ears.

The house was still. The only noises were the news report on the TV and the soft panting from Madison.

"What are you gonna do with him?" Charlotte whispered, standing behind Chibs and looking out through the blinds herself.

"Get him to leave," Chibs replied simply, as he watched a pizza delivery bike make it's way down the street.

"You're not going to kill him?"

She was shocked by her own question. When had she decided that Nathan should die? What gave her the right to even _think_ that? When had she turned into Judge, Jury and Executioner?

Chibs turned his head to look at her.

"Do you want me to?" he asked quietly, holding her gaze so she couldn't look away. He saw her internal struggle in her eyes.

Chibs had his own problems. The Club had come up with a plan that had been passed – Get the memory card and get Nathan out of Charming – and he had an obligation to fulfil it. If Charlotte said she wanted Nathan killed, he knew he'd then feel an obligation to her to kill Nathan--to keep her safe.

If ATF hadn't been snooping around, he would've been able to take Nathan out without a fear of a backlash, but Jax was right. Killing meant another body to bury, another lie to cover, another alibi needed. SAMCRO had no idea who Nathan was working for or his capabilities. There was no way in hell they could trip up right now.

"Yes."

He merely nodded and turned back to look through the blinds.

"I see you have company."

Charlotte whirled around to see Nathan standing behind her. Chibs stood quickly, stepping in front of Charlotte to shield her. He grabbed his gun from his waistband, pointing it at the bald headed man.

"There wasn't any space out in the front. I had to park my car in the next street. I would park in the driveway, but that'd just be down right rude of me."

"Jax!" Chibs bypassed Nathan's strange comment and yelled towards the stairs.

"I recognise you," Nathan smirked, talking to Chibs.

"Shut it!" Chibs cocked his gun.

"I don't blame you. I've got off on her surveillance photos before."

Chibs hit Nathan in the head with the butt of his gun. Nathan went down on the floor and Chibs pinned him down, taking his gun away and skidding it across the floor before grabbing the collar of his shirt in one hand, gun pointed at his temple with the other.

"Who do you work for, smart arse?"

Jax appeared in the room, wondering what was going on since he never saw a car pull up. He quickly assessed the situation, told Charlotte to stay back, and stood over Nathan with his gun pointing at him.

"Answer him!" Jax shouted.

"I work for myself!" Nathan spat out.

"Where's the memory card?"

Nathan laughed. Chibs slammed his head on the floor.

"I asked you where the fucking memory card is, asshole!"

Nathan laughed again. Chibs dropped his gun to the floor and punched Nathan in the nose a couple of times. When blood started pouring onto the carpet, Chibs pulled out his knife, putting it inside Nathan's mouth, pressing it against his cheek.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, you little shit and if you run off that smart mouth of yours again, I'm going to make your smile a lot wider, you get that?"

"We could be twins."

Chibs punched Nathan in the cheek where the knife was. The pressure on the blade pierced his cheek as well as Chibs' knuckles.

"That fucking hurts!" Nathan yelled in agony.

Chibs moved the blade onto Nathan's other cheek.

"Stop! Jesus fucking Christ, you maniac, stop!"

He started to choke on the blood that was filling his mouth.

"Ah, and I was just getting into that."

Chibs stood up and retrieved his gun. Nathan sat up on his knees trying to hold the hole in his cheek together to stop the bleeding.

"Sharon has the memory card. She has it all – everything's with her at the hotel," Nathan confessed.

"Lodi?" Chibs asked, looking to Jax.

"Cable ties then Lodi," Jax agreed. They'd take the bald-headed psychopath with them as their own insurance for the memory card.

They'd all taken their eyes off Nathan for only a few seconds, but it was all he needed. He rolled over to get his gun off the floor and then rolled under her dining-room table. Chibs and Jax shot at him and bullets hit his shoulder and leg.

Nathan raised his gun to Charlotte, but it proved too heavy for his wounded arm. His aim faltered and the bullet hit Madison instead of her.

"Maddy!" Charlotte gasped.

Nathan dropped the gun on the floor, which Jax picked up, then knocked him out with a blow to the head.

Madison's long grey fur quickly turned crimson from where she'd been hit in the stomach.

"Oh my God, do something! Do something!" Charlotte yelled at Chibs whilst stroking Madison. Her breathing was laboured and her eyes were glossy.

Chibs wanted to tell her he wasn't a vet, but he knelt down beside her anyway, searching for a pulse.

"Charlie, she needs a vet. I can't help her," he confessed.

Charlotte stood as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her address book to find the number for her vet. All those monthly insurance payments were finally going to pay off for Madison.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Chibs yelled after her, as she made her way to the front door. He stood to chase after her but Jax held him back with a hand on his arm.

"Wait! There's only one place she's headed; Lodi. Get the goon and let's go."

***

When Charlotte barged into Sharon's motel room, she was lying on the bed and had a belt around her arm, about to shoot up.

"Shit!" Sharon quickly took off the belt, "Knock first!"

"Get up."

"Did you get my money?"

Charlotte grabbed the lampshade on the nightstand and hit Sharon across the face. It caught her lip and it started to bleed.

"Charlotte!" she scolded, "I'm your mother!"

"You're _nothing_! You're nothing to me but an alcoholic, junkie, money-grabbing bitch who tried to ruin my family! You're lucky you're still breathing!"

Charlotte hit her again across the face and she stumbled over the edge of the bed, falling backwards onto the small chest of drawers.

Sharon's head made an almighty cracking sound on the corner of the wooden dresser.

"Oh no, oh shit," Charlotte breathed.

She had wanted to hurt Sharon in her fit of rage, but now she feared the whole situation had gone a step too far. Thick blood started to pool out of a large wound at the back of Sharon's head. It was quickly turning the grey stone coloured carpet a horrible crimson colour.

The only sound filling Charlotte's ears was her own heavy breathing. One minute everything had been going eight hundred miles an hour, and now it was all on pause.

She heard a noise behind her and the last person she expected to see there was Gemma.

"Gemma? What the hell-?"

"Where is she?"

Gemma didn't even bother to close the door as she stepped into the room, stopping at the sight of Sharon's body and blood on the floor. One look at the lampshade in Charlotte's trembling hands was enough to tell her what had happened.

"Oh, baby," Gemma soothed, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. Guess she wouldn't need that Beretta after all.

"I didn't mean to. She just fell."

Charlotte didn't really know how to feel about the situation.

"Junkie bitch," Gemma spat, "Give me the lamp, baby. It's okay," she soothed.

***

Jax and Chibs walked quietly down the hallway until they reached a corner.

"Go, I got your back," Chibs stated as he waited and kept watch.

When Jax saw the door was already open and he heard female voices, he motioned for Chibs to come to him. As the two men peered inside the room with caution, they were surprised to see Gemma there, too. Stepping into the room further, they saw Sharon laying lifelessly in a pool of blood on the floor while Gemma was struggling to take back the lampshade in Charlotte's vice grip.

"Charlotte, come on sweetheart; just give it to me."

The trouble was, Charlotte couldn't let go of the lampshade, because if she did, she felt like she was going to pass out.

Jax approached Charlotte slowly and cautiously took hold of her wrist. Upon seeing him there, Charlotte finally dropped the lampshade into Gemma's hands and fell into Jax's arms.

***

The others turned up at the motel minutes later. Jax had called Clay on the pre-pay on the drive to Lodi to tell him what had happened.

Juice destroyed the camera and the memory card. There was no evidence left collected by Nathan to incarcerate them.

Tig, Juice and the Prospect loaded Sharon's body into a car drove out to the outskirts of Lodi, made a grave and burnt the body.

Jax half-carried, half-dragged Charlotte to Gemma's car and the two drove back to Charming. Madison was at the vet's and would be for the foreseeable future. Instead of going home to an empty house, Charlotte took up Gemma's offer of staying overnight at her house in the spare bedroom.

Clay had paid off the night manager, giving him some spiel about how Sharon had recently gone through surgery and her stitches had opened; hence the blood on the floor. The manager accepted the money gratuitously and told him not to worry about the mess, but her mini-bar tab still needed paying.

"Clay, we've got a problem," Chibs announced.

"This night cannot possibly get any worse, Chibs."

"Back window's been smashed. Nathan's gone."

"And then again, maybe it can."

"He's been hit in the leg, he couldn't have got far."

He pulled out his gun and started to head back to the car.

"Hey," Clay grabbed his arm, "Where're you going?"

"Gonna find that prick and kill 'im."

"No more bodies, remember?"

Chibs sighed in frustration.

"He knows where Charlie lives."

He spoke more so to Jax, who had been standing there silently, than to Clay. Jax chewed on his bottom lip as he thought this one through. They already had to burn Sharon's body, which was already a big risk. Nathan was injured and would probably seek medical attention tonight. On the other hand, he was a psychopath and he did know where Charlotte lived. He even knew how to get into her house silently.

"Charlotte's staying with Gemma tonight. She'll be fine."

Jax placed a hand on Chib's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Jax-" Chibs started to protest.

"No more bodies. End of discussion," Clay ordered.


	10. Homecoming

**Author Note: Apologies for not updating in a while! I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter that I was going away on holiday. After this chapter there is only one more to go! **

**Have you guys all seen the new Season 2 promo? I don't know about you, but I'm on the edge of my sheet, chewing my nails waiting til September 8th.**

**Thank you all again to those who review and add me to your Favourite Story/Author and Author Alerts. If you don't want to leave me a review, you can always send me a message and tell me what you did or didn't like about the chapter or story.**

**Chapter Eight: Homecoming**

Charlotte slept well considering the previous night's extra-curricular activities. Taking a quick shower, she suddenly pined for her father. She needed that reassurance. She needed to physically hear his voice out loud, other than the one that kept repeating in her head. With all the crazy shit that had been happening, she hadn't found the time to go to his grave lately.

After her shower, Charlotte checked in with the vet, who said that he had got the bullet out of Madison's body and she would be fine after her scar healed. Apparently, Madison's large stomach had saved her life. The bullet hit mainly fat and a bit of muscle, missing major arteries and organs. Next, she called Jax, wanting to thank him again for getting Madison to a vets in good time. After she had raced out of her house to go find her mother at the Vista Inn, Chibs and Jax had loaded both Nathan and Madison into their 'borrowed' car and dropped Madison off at the vets. Without the guys, she'd be burying Madison.

Heading downstairs, Charlotte saw Gemma sitting at the dining room table with two cups of freshly brewed coffee.

"You okay, baby?" Gemma asked, reaching out and taking Charlotte's hand as she sat down.

"Yeah," Charlotte nodded, "All things considering, yeah."

"Jax just called. Abel's coming home."

Charlotte beamed. That was the first good news they'd all heard in months.

* * *

"How many people are we feeding?" Charlotte asked as Gemma placed an assortment of five, huge, ready-made cakes into their already full trolley.

Gemma stood upright, hands on hips.

"We're celebrating."

"Yeah but who's 'we'? The _whole_ of Charming?"

Charlotte glanced down into their trolley, filled with cakes, crisps, nuts, pop, and alcohol. They nearly had to get another trolley for all the bags of snacks and crisps that Gemma had wanted to buy.

"You got a smart mouth. You know that, young Lady?" Gemma couldn't hide her smile.

"Yeah, but I got that from you."

"Yeah, guess you did," Gemma said as she checked out her reflection in the security mirror hanging on the wall, readjusting the sunglasses on her head.

* * *

Charlotte arrived laden with presents for baby Abel and two cases of beer.

"Think we might run out?" Gemma teased, taking one case from Charlotte and putting it on the kitchen counter, where four other cases were already sitting.

"My fridge is busted," Charlotte explained, "My kitchen floor looked like a swimming pool."

Gemma left for the hospital, leaving Luanne fussing in the kitchen. Charlotte and Wendy were alone in the living room, putting up the final decorations in an awkward silence. Jax soon swung by and picked Wendy up. He handed her his spare helmet and Charlotte was catapulted back to eighteen months ago, when that gesture would not have been uncommon. Now Jax barely even looked at his soon-to-be-ex-wife…How times changed.

* * *

Charlotte tapped the cake again with her knife. It didn't even make a dent in the frosting.

"It's still frozen," she announced.

Tig made a noise of disgust and left her alone in the kitchen again. Tig loved cake almost as much as he loved going through hookers. He had his eye on the double chocolate brownie cake since he first got there, but it was taking a while to defrost.

Charlotte heard the front door open and she immediately went to go see baby Abel. Jax walked through to the living room where everybody crowded around him in a circle. This wasn't just about Abel's homecoming. This was about family, too. They were all there to show support, love, and commitment to one another. Charlotte realised that, when Abel was surrounded by his family - blood or otherwise - this baby was dearly loved and would forever be protected. She was too. They all were. They all had each other's backs.

* * *

"See? Nerves of steel," Piney declared, removing his hands from the glass that was balancing on Kenny's head.

"Don't laugh, Kenny! You're spilling it!" Charlotte said as some of the liquid sloshed over the sides onto Kenny's hair.

"Y'know the rules. Say that if you spill it, you have to drink the rest," Jax smiled as Piney was already putting a glass on Ellie's head too.

"You mean his Dad will," Donna laughed, looking up at Opie.

"Sure will, baby," he replied, giving her a kiss.

Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte saw Tara take a seat on the chair's arm next to Jax. She also saw her lean down and kiss him.

_Oh Shit, _She thought as she glanced over to see Wendy's reaction.

"Look after this."

Jax handed Charlotte his beer bottle, before leading Tara away to talk. Jax's vacated seat wasn't even cold before someone sat heavily beside her. It was Tig.

"Checked on that cake lately?"

Charlotte shook her head.

* * *

"You're looking like a pro," Charlotte commented as she entered the kitchen to dispose of the empty beer bottles that had been littering the living room. Jax was holding Abel in one arm, putting beers in the fridge with his free hand.

"Yeah, I'm getting the hang of it," he smirked. "I don't care what anybody ever tells you, little man," Jax said, looking down at Abel, "You always listen to your Auntie Charlotte, you got that?"

She was so taken aback by the sweetness of his comment and his sincerity that she was left speechless.

"Here, can you hold him? I gotta take a leak."

Now _that_ was the Jackson Teller she was used to. She carried baby Abel back into the living room where she took the only available seat next to Wendy.

After a little while, Abel fell asleep. So she put him in his cot under the supervision of Gemma.

"You know, she should be doing this. Not you," Gemma mumbled.

"Gemma," Charlotte warned.

"What? She should."

Gemma left, but Charlotte stayed for a few minutes, watching the baby's chest rise and fall with his breathing.

"He's a cutie."

Chibs' voice broke the silence in the room. She turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, watching her watch Abel.

"Yeah," Charlotte replied softly, stroking the baby's tiny nose.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine."

She turned and leaned against the railings on the cot. Chibs turned his head and looked down the hallway to check that nobody was coming their way.

"You still staying at Gemma's?" he asked.

"No, she's staying here tonight. For Abel."

He looked to the floor, thinking.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sensing something.

"Maybe you should stay here, too. 'Til this shit blows over."

"I thought it was done."

As their eyes met in the semi-darkness of the baby's room, Chibs debated telling her the whole truth about Nathan's sudden disappearance. Sometimes when people knew the truth, they panicked. And when they panicked…that's when they got hurt.

"Just...be careful."

* * *

Charlotte exited the kitchen with two slices of cake – one for her and one for Tig. The cake had finally defrosted. As she exited the kitchen, she saw Tig leave through the front door.

"Where's Tig going? I got cake," she asked Clay, who was leaning against the wall.

"He, urr, went to get cigarettes."

* * *

The house fell into a deadly silence after Jax, Chibs and Clay left to go and meet Opie. Gemma was washing up, trying to take her mind off things. Wendy and Charlotte sat opposite each other in the living room in another awkward silence.

Charlotte glanced at her watch and noted that the guys had been gone for forty minutes. They didn't know where the accident had happened exactly, but Charlotte was seriously considering going on a drive around the town to find them.

"You still doing your jewellery?" Wendy asked. She already knew the answer but she just wanted to break the tension.

"Yeah."

"I heard you got fired from the Nail Salon."

"Yeah."

"Found anything else yet?"

"No."

Wendy scoffed.

"Jesus, Charlotte, you have to give me more than one word answers. I'm making an effort here."

"What do you want me to give you, Wendy? Five hundred dollars? Or you just going to take that yourself again?"

Wendy winced, consciously rubbing the fading track marks littering her hands.

"Okay, I deserved that. I'm sorry. What more can I say?"

"Sometimes, Wendy, it's not so much what you say. It's what you _do_, too," Charlotte huffed.

"Dishes are done," Gemma announced, cutting off Wendy's reply.

The three women remained in silence until Abel's whimper came through on the baby monitor. All three women stood up to go tend to him, eyeing each other, silently figuring out who should go.

"Go," Gemma said, waving Wendy down the hallway - Junkie Mom had to learn sometime.

* * *

Jax entered through the front door, shaking his head. From the look on his face, everybody knew that whatever had happened, Donna hadn't survived. Gemma immediately stood to hug her son.

"You should go home, Mom," Jax half-asked, half-told his mother.

"What about the baby?" Gemma swallowed.

"I can take care of my son."

Mother and Son continued to look at each other before Charlotte stood and looped an arm through Gemma's.

"Come on," she urged.

"I'll get my purse," Gemma finally relented.

As Gemma collected her things, Charlotte looked at Jax and saw a mixture of torture and anger on his face. She gave him a quick hug before she left with Gemma.

* * *

The silence of her house hit Charlotte as soon as she stepped through her front door. She half-expected Maddy to run up to her, tail wagging, begging for more food. The only sound was the horrible clinking sound of her broken refrigerator. She'd really have to get that sorted.

It had been a long day and an even longer night. And with the onslaught of a headache, Charlotte headed straight up to her bedroom, her heart set on changing into comfortable pyjamas and watching 'Dirty Dancing'. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey would make her feel a little better at least. Flicking on her light, she stopped in her tracks. Painted across the largest wall in her room in bright red paint was the message:

**I'M STILL WATCHING**

Charlotte was so terrified she couldn't even scream. She felt like she was bolted to the ground and couldn't move for a few seconds. When she was able to, she ran downstairs, grabbed her keys and headed straight for her car.

Peeling out of her driveway, she spotted a pair of headlights in her rear-view mirror. The lights were so bright that she couldn't make out the car or the driver exactly, but she had a good idea as to who it was. The car followed her the whole way to the Clubhouse.

She had stupidly left her phone in the house in her rush to get out. Thankfully, someone had left one of the Teller-Morrow gates open. She parked, got out quickly and shut the gate. A car stopped outside the entrance. But just as quick as it had stopped, it had sped off again. It was Nathan in his Pontiac.

Charlotte ran to the Clubhouse door, finding it locked. She banged on the door, screaming for someone to open it. On the other side of the door, she heard someone flick the lock and she stood back to let them open it.

"Charlie? What's-"

Charlotte didn't even let Chibs finish his sentence before she flung herself at him, arms going around his neck. He took a step back to steady himself and nudged the door shut with the tip of his boot.

"I thought you got rid of him!" she cried hysterically, "He's still here!"

"What happened?" he asked, one hand rubbing her back and the other on the back of her head, holding her close. Juice looked on from the bar with piqued interest.

Charlotte pulled away to look at him, hands gripping the collar of his cut.

"He was back in my house! He followed me here!""

"Oh Jesus."

Chibs closed his eyes for a second. He'd wanted to hunt down and kill Nathan the second he realised that he had escaped. He _knew_ he should've said something to her earlier at the party. He was lucky she got out alive and unhurt.

"What's going on?" Juice asked, walking up to them. He couldn't hear what they were saying properly from the bar.

"Stay here," Chibs ordered. "You," Chibs pointed to Juice, "Watch her."

* * *

It had been almost half an hour since Chibs had left. Sitting at the bar with Juice, Charlotte confessed that she felt guilty about at least not going after him to check that he was okay. Juice had laughed at her.

"I think he can handle himself," he said, shaking his head then announcing he was going to bed with a bottle of Tequila in one hand and a packet of cigarettes in the other.

After being by herself for a few minutes, Charlotte got bored. She went to Chibs' dorm-room, just opening the door by a little bit, not sure what to expect.

Chibs' room had the same horrible, dark wood effect panelling that Jax had, all around the room. On the nightstand, stood a ceramic black lamp that she turned on, illuminating half the room in a dim light. He tried to 'decorate', which consisted of a large Scottish flag pinned to one wall, a framed hand-drawn picture of a Harley on another and a number of pictures of half-naked women stuck to his small mirror.

She sat on the edge of the bed, facing the door. When she heard the sound of his footsteps coming down the hallway she tensed up, hands gripping the mattress, preparing herself for whatever state he could be in.

The whole world paused as he entered. Charlotte's eyes diligently looking everywhere for any signs of stab or bullet wounds.

He stood in front of her whilst she looked up at him.

"Charlie," he started, "It's always gonna be like this, y'know?"

No, she didn't know what he meant. Her brows furrowed together in confusion and before she could voice her thoughts he cupped her cheek and continued.

"You're always gonna be waitin' around. Wonderin' where I am. When I'm gonna come back."

He pulled his hand away.

"You need to realise that and you need to accept it. 'Cause that's what I am."

She stood quickly.

"I know. I know that this," she said, placing her hands over the patches on his cut, "is what you are. But it's not _all_ you are."

His eyes roamed over her face before he kissed her so hard she fell backwards onto his bed, Charlotte bursting into a fit of giggles.

In the room next door, Juice knew something was up when he heard Charlotte laugh. Then something crashed to the floor and after hearing her moans of pleasure, he proceeded to turn up the volume on his iPod.


	11. The Savior

**Author Note:**

**I'm sorry I couldn't get this out to you any sooner. You've all been so positive and encouraging in your responses, I'm extremely happy and glad that you have all taken to the story so well. U****nfortunately, this is the final chapter - for now. I fully intend to continue the story after Season 2 has fully aired.**

**As promised in earlier chapters I will be doing a one-shot on how Charlie and Chibs first got together. I'm also working on a one-shot as to how Chibs became HalfSack's Sponsor.**

**Once again, thank you, and now on to the final chapter. **

**Chapter Nine: The Savior**

Charlotte sat straight up in bed, woken by loud noises coming from outside. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was Tuesday and the waste bins were being collected. Looking over her shoulder she saw that Chibs was still sleeping soundly beside her, not even remotely bothered by the noise outside.

She couldn't get back to sleep so she grabbed her clothes from the following night that were gracelessly thrown around the room.

Seeing as it was only 8am no one else should have been up. Her car was parked out the front and if people saw it they'd ask questions which she didn't want to answer. After getting dressed she left the bedroom quietly.

The Clubhouse was quiet and Charlotte had escaped unnoticed. As she went to get in her car she found her doors were locked – she'd left the keys somewhere. She racked her brain to remember where she last had them. Entering the Clubhouse again she started to search the bar area, and spotted them on the floor near the cash register. Standing back up again she froze when Clay suddenly appeared on the other side of the bar.

* * *

Chibs woke up, disappointed that Charlotte had fled the Clubhouse already. He knew she was reluctant of going public but he didn't fully understand _why_. He knew he wasn't a poster boy for relationships, especially with a failed marriage already under his belt, but he wanted to really try hard at whatever it was that he and Charlotte had.

Glancing at his watch he saw it was coming up to 9am. He decided it was time to get up and wander outside, see what was going on and who was around and maybe get some work done.

The Clubhouse was eerily silent. After making a cup of coffee in the small kitchen Chibs turned and saw Clay leaning against the bar, arms folded against his chest, watching him.

"We need to talk." He commanded in a low voice.

"Sure." Chibs agreed, walking towards him.

He was surprised when Clay started to walk away from him and into the Church. He followed him in anyway, closing the door behind them. It seemed a little odd for just the two of them to be there alone.

"Sit."

Clay motioned to Tig's chair and as soon as Chibs sat down he could smell Charlotte's perfume. She'd been in the Church room too he guessed and not that many minutes before him either.

_Ah, Christ_.

There was only one thing this could be about. This was the big 'What Do You Think You're Doing With Charlotte?' speech. He'd been expecting it but not so soon or so early in the goddamn morning. Whilst he was relieved there would be no more sneaking around, he wished Charlotte had at least told him of her intentions, not just drop him in it with Clay.

"Clay-" Chibs started.

"I know I'm not the best father." Clay interrupted holding a hand up to silence Chibs further.

Chibs looked down into his steaming cup of coffee wondering where this was going.

"I know I'm not the best husband, either. But one thing I do know is that I'm the best President for Samcro, and I know I'm the best brother I can be to my guys."

Chibs chose to remain silent.

"If you and Charlie want to be together that's fine, I got no problem with that. But you lied to me. You lied to me as a brother and as your President-"

"Clay, I never _lied_ to you-"

"But you kept shit from me." Clay leant forward and pointed a finger in Chibs' face.

"You think I wanted to keep this from you?" Chibs grew defensive. "It was all her idea, I just went along with it 'cause I-" He stopped short.

"'Cause what?" Clay pressed.

"'Cause that's what she wanted, and..." He trailed off and shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of his coffee.

"And I guess I'd do anything for her." He finished, hating how soppy that sounded. This definitely wasn't the time nor place for that kind of thing.

"That's all I wanted to hear." Clay stood and Chibs followed suit.

"You do realise Gemma'll give you hell, right?" Clay smiled, patting Chibs on the shoulder.

* * *

After Clay had interrogated Charlotte in the Church (She knew it was coming, just not so soon or so early in the Goddamn morning) she went back to her house to shower and change her clothes before driving back to TM. She was heading over to Oakland to pick up the fridge she had ordered on the internet and needed an able bodied person to help her collect.

Putting the handbrake on her car she saw Piney storm out the Clubhouse, moving quicker than she had ever seen him move before, and get on his bike. Jax appeared a few seconds later and went to go and talk to him. Whatever he said didn't work and Piney pulled out the lot on his trike. Jax spoke to Half Sack who was loitering nearby and the Prospect got on his own bike and followed Piney out the garage.

Jax went over to Charlotte's car and she wound the window down.

"What you doin' here?" He asked.

"What was that about?" She asked, ignoring his question.

He shook his head and exhaled.

"Heard you spent the night."

"Yeah." She nodded. Nothing was ever a secret in the Club, and if it was, it wasn't for long.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't _you_ say anything about Tara?" She countered.

"That's different."

"Is it?" She raised one eyebrow. Talk about double standards!

"Look, Charlotte, this life? Chibs is never going to give it up - _never_. You gotta be sure this is what you want. You gotta be sure that you're okay with him coming home at god knows what time in the morning, blood all over his face. You gotta be sure that you're okay with him dropping everything in a split second because we need him. Because the Club needs him."

Charlotte mulled it over for a few seconds. The truth was she was used to that shit happening. The guys would show up everywhere and anywhere with cuts and bruises they hadn't sported the day before. They dropped out of so many dinners and get togethers that often it was just Gemma and Charlotte left to eat enough food to feed a thousand.

"Jax, I wouldn't want it any other way.."

"I just don't want you to get hurt...like Donna."

He chewed his bottom lip, remembering Donna lying on the yellow sheeting, stone cold dead.

"You getting' soft on me Jackson Teller? You turning gay?" She teased.

"Shut the fuck up."

"Stop worrying, okay?"

"You know I'll always be here to pick the pieces up, right?"

"There won't be any pieces for you to pick up."

Jax nodded in understanding.

* * *

Everybody was busy at the garage and so consequently Charlotte drove to Oakland on her own. On the free way she spotted Half Sack amongst the traffic, and a few cars in front of him was Piney. So it seemed Piney had stormed off to Oakland, but why? What was in Oakland that needed his attention so urgently?

She was intrigued and followed Half Sack and Piney until they stopped outside a bar, cars belonging to the Niners littered all down the street. The two men talked briefly before Half Sack made a phone call and followed Piney into the bar. Charlotte took out her own phone and called Clay. She got no answer so called Jax.

"I'ma have to call you back." He answered.

"Did you know that Piney and Half Sack are in a Niner bar in Oakland?"

"Yeah." He paused. "Wait, you there too?"

"I'll keep an eye on them."

"Charlie-" He started but she'd already hung up.

"Charlie's in Oakland too." Jax announced.

"What she doin' there?" Chibs asked in disbelief.

"Go. Now." Clay ordered pointing to Chibs and Jax.

* * *

"Oi."

Charlotte felt someone grab her bare calf and pull her off the dumpster she was standing on. She was using the height to look through a small window, giving her a perfect view of the bar from the back. She stumbled backwards and yelped in surprise as she fell into Chibs' arms, Jax looking down at her.

"The fuck you doin', Nancy fucking Drew?"

"Keeping an eye on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle One Nut."

"Anybody see you?" Chibs asked her as they made their way back down the alleyway.

"No."

"Go wait in the car." Jax told her.

"Stay there this time." Chibs ordered, opening the car door and motioning his head for her to get in. Last thing he wanted was for her to caught up in a cross-fire if something went wrong inside the bar.

"But-"

Charlotte started to protest, but she knew she had no right to enter the bar with them. Whatever it was that was happening, they were right – she should stay in the car. After she sat in the driver's seat Chibs leant in and kissed her.

"Get outta here, 'kay?"

* * *

Charlotte arrived at the cemetery at 1.50pm, ten minutes before the service was due to start. Not that Charlotte intended to duck out of paying her respects, but she wasn't a fan of funerals and she didn't want to be there longer than necessary. She'd also been trying Jax's cell phone like crazy that morning. He wasn't picking up and nobody had heard from him. When Chibs had left earlier that morning to go to the Clubhouse he said he'd get Jax to ring her, but then he sent her a text saying Jax had been in a bust up with Tig the night before and nobody had seen him since.

_Wonderful,_ she thought.

On one side of the coffin were Donna's friends, distant family, neighbours and work colleagues. On the other side sat Gemma, Wendy, and Mary with the kids, Donna's older sister Heather, a dark haired woman that Charlotte had never seen before, Tara, and then an empty space. None of the guys were there yet but she could hear the bike procession in the distance.

Gemma stood when she saw Charlotte and they hugged each other in greeting.

"Chibs, huh?" Gemma simply stated, one hand on her hip. "How's that going for you?"

"Good." Charlotte smiled.

Gemma always knew in the back of her mind that Charlotte would end up with someone either from the Club or very closely affiliated with the Club. She knew she wasn't interested in Juice or Half Sack, so she always imagined her getting together with a future member somewhere down the line. Never would she of imagined the person Charlotte would end up with would be somebody who was almost 20 years her senior.

"You know I'll be watching like a hawk." Gemma warned.

"Don't you always?" Charlotte laughed lightly, giving Gemma another hug.

"I'll be fine." Charlotte whispered in her ear.

Wendy stood up from her seat.

"You wanna sit down?" She nodded to the seat she had been sat upon. Charlotte was about to take it but then she noticed that Tara held Jax's cut in her hands. That alone was a story ready to be told.

"No, it's okay." She answered. Gemma went to say something but didn't and just nodded, sitting back down again, watching as Charlotte walked towards Tara. The Doctor saw her and scooted over one seat so that now she was sitting at the end.

"Hey." Tara greeted softly, and Charlotte gave her a polite smile in return. Tara never really knew what to think of Charlotte. Clay and Gemma had adopted her after she went to college in Chicago, so the two never really knew each other after her and Jax became brother and sister. The first time they'd even been in the same room outside of the hospital was at Abel's homecoming, and Tara had practically blown that opportunity to impress. No doubt Gemma had poisoned Charlotte's perspective of Tara already anyway.

"You wanna tell me why you're holding Jax's cut in your hands?" Charlotte asked.

Tara shook her head slightly. That sounded _exactly_ like something Gemma would say. As Charlotte removed her sunglasses, Tara noticed a look of worry in the younger woman's eyes. No anger, no patronisation, no manipulation, just worry and anxiety. Tara relaxed.

"Juice dropped it off. I guess he figured I'd see Jax before he did again."

"Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"See him? This morning?"

"No. I -I thought he was at the Clubhouse."

"Nobody's seen him since last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

* * *

As the service was coming to an end Charlotte started getting restless about Jax. So much shit had happened in the past two months that Charlotte now realised _anything_ was possible. _Anything_ could've happened to Jax.

Not only was he MIA, he was missing for Donnas' funeral, the highest form of disrespect to his longest and dearest friend Opie. If Opie didn't kill him for missing the service first, Charlotte would. Gemma wouldn't be too far behind, either.

Tara elbowed Charlotte lightly and nodded in the distance where Jax was approaching the group. His lip was visibly cut and there was some dried blood on his knuckles.

_I guess that's what being in a fight with Tig looks like._

Tara stood and took the cut with her, helping Jax put it on and then kissed him.

_Oh no._

Charlotte glanced down the line of people and saw the look on Wendy's face. Opie was watching the unfolding scenario with interest -hell they all were- wondering what Jax was going to do next. Jax smiled briefly at Charlotte as he walked towards the coffin, grabbed a blue carnation, kissed it gently and laid it on the coffin. On the way back he shot an odd look in Clay's direction, followed by a slight nod towards Opie before passing Tara and heading further deeper into the graveyard.

Charlotte tapped her foot on the grass in anticipation. She wished the Reverend would speak quicker so they could all leave. She had to go and see Jax. Give him an earful for not answering his phone, not telling her where he'd been. Then she'd find out why he was acting weird and hadn't stayed at the funeral.

"And now, let us bow our heads together in a unified and final prayer for Donna. Dear Heavenly Father..."

As everybody bowed their heads Charlotte bowed out of the ceremony in a bid to find Jax. She headed in the direction she saw him go but she couldn't see him. She knew he'd gone to his Dad's grave but she had no idea where he, or the other war veterans, were buried. Looking back over her shoulder the service had officially ended and people had begun to disperse. Taking a deep breath she walked a little way to her father's grave stone.

_**PAUL ERIC DAVIS**_

_**JAN 10 1952 – JULY 7 1997**_

_**BELOVED FATHER, LOYAL FRIEND**_

Charlotte pulled up a few overgrown blades of grass around the base of the cold stone, sitting on her knees. With all the crazy shit that had been happening lately she hadn't been to the gravestone in a while, and she felt guilty for it. A soft breeze ran through the trees as she rubbed her fingertips over the engraved lettering. She felt at her most calm at that moment than she had in weeks.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but she decided to go and look for Jax. Standing, she dusted off the grass from her knees.

"Jesus!"

She jumped when she turned and saw Chibs standing a few feet away from her, sitting on top of an extremely old gravestone, smoking a cigarette.

"You enjoy sneaking up on people in graveyards?"

"Yeah, kind of." He replied with a smirk, jumping off the tomb and extinguishing his cigarette.

She raised her eyebrows in question but decided that she didn't really want to know the story behind that comment. He reached out and when she took his hand he pulled her towards him.

"You okay? I mean, I know you're not, but..." He trailed off.

"I'm fine."

She smiled, placing a kiss on his lips as she slipped her hands under his cut, around his waist. Resting her chin on his shoulder she spotted Jax in the distance, perching on a gravestone. Piney approached him and gave him a thick brown envelope.

"There's Jax."

Chibs put an arm round her shoulder and walked with her along the rows of graves. He proceeded to tell her the story with Half Sack and the grave.

"Digging up a grave? You know that's bad karma, right?"

_That sounds familiar._

"Long as it's not your grave, baby." He kissed her temple and stood back as she approached Jax.

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked.

He looked at her, tongue poking out and licking at his split lip.

"What's our number one rule Jax? We _always_ check in with each other."

"I'm sorry. Some shit came up."

"And I guess that 'shit' was in the form of Tig?"

Jax just nodded; thumb flicking through a huge booklet of some sort.

"What the hell is that?" Charlotte turned her head to read the front.

_The Life and Death of Sam Crow: How the Sons of Anarchy lost their way._

"It's a new direction."

**THE END.**


End file.
